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REFORMATION  PRINCIPLES  EXH 

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DECLARATION  AND  TESTITOl^ 


BEING  THE  ,  JUL     101919 


StViV?> 


EEFOEMED    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH 


NORTH  AMEBICA. 


"  Whereto  we  have  already  attained,  let  U3  walk  by  the  eanie  rule ;  let  us  mind 
the  same  thing." 

"  Bind  up  the  Testimony,  seal  the  Law  among  my  disciples." 

"And  they  overcame— by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  by  the  word  of  their 
Testimony," 


SIXTH    EDITION. 


NEW  YORK: 
LEE,  SHEPARD   AND  DILLINGHAM. 

1871. 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter  Page 

I.  Of  God 7 

II.  OfMan lo 

III.  Of  Divine  Revelation I2 

IV.  Of  Human  Reason 15 

V.  Of  the  Fall  of  Man 17 

VI.  OfElection 20 

VII.  Of  Christ  the  Mediator 22 

VIII.  Of  the  Holy  Spirit 26 

IX.  Of  the  Covenant  of  Grace 28 

X.  Of  Christ's  Satisfaction 33 

XI.  Of  the  Gospel  Oflfer 38 

XII.  Of  Regeneration '41 

XIII.  OfFaith 44 

XIV.  Of  Justification 54 

XV.  Of  Adoption 50 

XVI.  Of  Repentance 58 

XVII.  Of  Sanctification 62 

XVIII.  Of  Perseverance  in  Grace 68 

XIX.  Of  the  State  of  Men  after  Death 71 

XX.  Of  Christ's  Headship 75 

XXI.   Of  the  Christian  Church 78 

XXII.  Of  Church  Fellowship 83 

3 


4  CONTENTS. 

XXIII.  Of  the  Government  of  the  Church       ....  86 

XXIV.  Of  Christian  Worship 90 

XXV.  Of  the  Sacraments          . 97 

XXVI.  Of  Religious  Fasting  and  Thanksgiving      .         .         .  100 

XXVII.  Of  Oaths  and  Covenants 103 

XXVIII.  Of  Marriage loS 

XXIX.  Of  Civil  Government 112 

XXX.  Of  the  Right  of  Dissent  from  a  Constitution  of  Civil 

Government 119 

XXXI.  Of  Church  Discipline 123 

XXXII.  Of  Ministerial  Visitation  and  Catechising  .         .         .  125 

XXXIII.  Of  Testimony-Bearing 128 

APPENDIX. 

Adopting  Act 133 

Terms  of  Ecclesiastical  Communion       ....  135 

Formula  of  Queries 137 


New  York,  May  15,  1806. 

The  Presbytery  resumed  the  consideration  of  the  Draught 
of  a  Testimony  with  the  Amendments.  A  member  was 
called  upon  to  pray  for  divine  direction.  After  prayer,  the 
Moderator  put  the  question.  Approve  or  disapprove  of  the 
Draught  as  now  amended?  The  members  answered  unani- 
mously. Approve. 

The  Court  do  therefore  approve  and  ratify  this  Testimony, 
as  the  Testimony  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  North  America. 

William  Gibson,  3Ioderator. 

John  Black,   Clerk. 


The  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church  in  North  America,  being  in  session  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  on  the  17th  day  of  October,  1848,— 

Resolved^  That  a  Fourth  Edition  of  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony  be  published,  and  that  the  Book  of  Discipline 
be  appended  to  it. 

Attested  by 

John  N.  McLeod,  Stated  Clerk. 


The  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church  in  North  America,  being  in  session  in  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio,  on  the  25th  of  May,  1870,— 

Resolved,  That  this  Sixth  Edition  of  the  Declaration  and 
Testimony  be  published. 
Attested  by 

John  N.  McLeod,  Stated  Clerk. 
5 


DECLARATION  AND  TESTIMONY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

OF  GOD. 


1.  There  is  one  infinite,  eternal,  self-existent, 
independent,  omniscient,  omnipresent,  and  un- 
changeable Being,  who  is  the  Creator,  the  Pre- 
server, and  the  Governor  of  all  creatures  v^hich 

exist. 

Deut.  vi.  4.  The  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord.  Job  xi.  7. 
Canst  thou  by  searching  find  out  God?  Canst  thou  find  out 
the  Almighty  unto  perfection  ?  Ps.  xc.  2.  From  everlasting  to 
everlasting  thou  art  God.  Ex.  iii.  14.  God  said  unto  Moses, 
I  AM  THAT  I  AM.  Ps.  cxlvii.  5.  Great  is  our  Lord,  and 
of  great  power ;  his  understanding  is  infinite.  1  Kings  viii. 
27.  Behold,  the  heaven  and  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  con- 
tain thee.  Mai.  iii.  6.  I  am  the  Lord,  I  change  not.  Rev.  iv. 
11.  Thou  hast  created  all  things.  Heb.  i.  3.  Upholding  all 
things  by  the  word  of  his  power.  Ps.  ciii.  19.  His  kingdom 
ruleth  over  all. 

2.  This  only  true  and  living  God  hath,  in  and 
of  himself,  all  goodness,  glory,  and  blessedness ;  is 
a  most  pure  Spirit,  invisible,  almighty,  most  wise, 
most  holy,  most  free,  most  absolute,  most  just,  most 
gracious  and  mercifuL 

7 


5  OF    GOD. 

Jer.  X.  10.  The  Lord  is  the  true  God  ;  he  is  the  living  God, 
and  an  everlasting  King.  Acts  vii.  2.  The  God  of  glory.  Ps. 
cxix.  68.  Thou  art  good  and  doest  good.  Rom.  ix.  5.  Who  is 
overall,  God  blessed  forever.  'John  iv.  24.  God  is  a  spirit.  1 
Tim.  xi.  17.  Now  unto  the  King  eternal,  immortal,  invisible, 
the  only  wise  God,  be  honor  and  glory  forever  and  ever. 
Amen.  Rev.  iv.  8.  Holy,  holy,  holy.  Lord  God  Almighty. 
Ps.  cxv.  3.  He  hath  done  whatsoever  pleased  him.  Eph.  i.  11. 
Who  worketh  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  his  own  will. 
Ex.  xxxiv.  67.  The  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  long 
suffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,  keeping  mercy 
for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity,  and  transgi-ession,  and  sin, 
and  that  Avill  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty. 

3.  God  is  unto  himself  all-sufficient,  deriving  no 
help  or  glory  from  any  of  his  creatures ;  but  man- 
ifesting his  own  glory  by  them,  unto  them,  and 
upon  them,  having  sovereign  dominion  over  them, 
to  do  to  them  whatsoever  it  pleaseth  him  ;  and,  by 
a  holy  and  w^ise  providence,  directing  and  disposing 
of  them,  and  all  their  changes  and  actions,  without 
any  violence  to  their  nature,  according  to  the  im- 
mutable counsel  of  his  own  will. 

Job  xxii.  2.  Can  a  man  be  profitable  unto  God  ?  Rom.  xi. 
36.  For  of  him,  and  through  him,  and  to  him,  are  all  things  : 
to  whom  be  glory  forever.  Dan.  iv.  35.  He  doeth  according 
to  his  will  in  the  army  of  heaven,  and  among  the  inhabitants 
of  the  earth.  Acts  xv.  18.  Known  unto  God  are  all  his 
works  from  the  beginning  of  the  world.  Matt.  x.  29.  Are 
not  two  sparrows  sold  for  a  farthing?  and  one  of  them  shall 
not  fill  on  the  ground  without  your  Father.  30.  But  the 
very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered.  Acts  xxvii.  24.  So 
God  hath  given  thee  all  them  that  sail  with  thee.  31.  Except 
these  abide  in  the  ship,  ye  cannot  be  saved.  Acts  ii.  23.  Him 
being  delivered  by  the  detemiinate  counsel  and  foreknowl- 


OF    GOD.  y 

edge  of  God,  ye  have  taken,  and  by  wicked  hands  have  cru- 
cified and  slam. 

4.  The  One  infinite  and  eternal  God  subsists  in 
three  distinct  divine  persons  —  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  all  equal ;  the  same  in  sub- 
stance, in  power,  and  in  glory. 

Matt,  xxviii.  19.  Baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  2  Cor.  xiii.  14.  The 
grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love  of  God,  and  the 
communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  with  you  all.  Amen.  1 
John  V.  7.  For  there  are  three  that  bear  record  in  heaven,  the 
Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  these  three  are 
One. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 

testify  against  all  w^ho  maintain  them  : 

1.  "That  this  world  is  eternal,  or  caused  by  a 
fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms,  without  the  agency 
of  an  intelligent  Creator. 

2.  "  That  there  are  more  Gods  than  one. 

3.  "That  God  hath  not  determined  by  an  un- 
changeable decree,  every  event  which  comes  to 
pass. 

4.  "That  God  doth  not,  by  a  particular  prov- 
idence, govern  all  his  creatures  and  all  their  ac- 
tions. 

5.  "That  it  is  not  criminal  to  be  discontented 
with  any  providential  dispensation. 

6.  "  That  there  is  no  distinction  of  persons  in  the 
Godhead ;  but  that  man  can  demonstrate  the  im- 
possibility of  the  existence  of  three  persons  in  the 
unity  of  the  infinite  and  incomprehensible  Godhead." 


10  OF   MAN. 

CHAPTER  II. 

OF  MAN. 

1.  Man  is  created  with  a  rational  and  immortal 
soul,  capable  of  ascertaining  that  God  his  Maker  is 
worthy  of  being  loved,  feared,  and  served  ;  and  he 
is  accountable  unto  God  for  all  his  emotions,  ex- 
pressions, and  actions. 

Is.  i.  18.  Come  now,  and  let  us  reason  together,  saith  the 
Lord.  Matt.  x.  28.  Fear  not  them  which  kill  the  body,  but 
are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul.  Rom.  i.  19.  Because  that  which 
may  be  known  of  God  is  manifest  in  them.  21.  When  they 
knew  God  they  glorified  him  not  as  God.  Chap.  ii.  6.  Who 
will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds.  Matt.  xii. 
36.  But  I  say  unto  you,  that  every  idle  word  that  men  shall 
speak,  they  shall  give  account  thereof  in  the  day  of  judgment. 

2.  Man  is  a  free  agent,  unrestrained  in  his  voli- 
tions by  the  immutable  decree  of  God,  although  it 
is  not  possible  for  him  in  any  instance  to  avoid 
fulfilling  that  decree  :  the  divine  commandment  is 
the  rule  of  his  conduct,  and  after  the  death  of  the 
body  he  shall  be  judged  by  a  righteous  God  accord- 
ing to  his  works. 

James  i.  13.  Let  no  man  say  when  he  is  tempted,  I  am 
tempted  of  God.  14.  But  every  man  is  tempted  when  he  is 
drawn  away  of  his  own  lust  and  enticed.  Heb.  vi.  17.  Wherein 
God,  willing  more  abundantly  to  show  unto  the  heirs  of  promise 
the  immutability  of  his  counsel.  Deut.  xii.  32.  What  tiling 
soever  I  command  you,  observe  to  do  it ;  thou  shalt  not  add 
thereto  nor  diminish  from  it.  Heb.  ix.  27.  It  is  appointed  unto 
men  once  to  die;  but  after  this  the  judgment. 


OP   MAN.  11 

3.  Man,  entirely  dependent  on  God  for  his  being, 
preservation,  thoughts,  and  works,  and  bound  to 
perfect  obedience  to  whatever  God  commands,  is 
nevertheless  sinful  in  his  disposition,  criminal  in 
every  part  of  his  conduct,  incapable  of  ascertaining, 
without  supernatural  aid,  the  extent  of  his  own  guilt 
and  depravity,  or  a  method  of  reconciliation  with  a 
holy  and  just  God. 

Acts  xvii.  28.  For  in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our 
being.  Rom.  iii.  19.  Now  we  know  that  what  things  soever 
the  law  saith,  it  saith  to  them  who  are  under  the  law ;  that 
every  mouth  may  be  stopped,  and  all  the  world  may  become 
guilty  before  God.  Eph.  ii.  3.  And  were  by  nature  the  chil- 
dren of  wrath.  5.  Even  when  we  were  dead  in  sin.  1  Cor. 
i.  21.  The  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God.  Chap.  ii.  14.  But 
the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Prov.  xxix.  18.  Where  there  is  no  vision  the  people  perish. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "That  man  has  no  soul  distinct  from  his 
bodily  organization. 

2.  "  That  he  is  necessarily  impelled  to  choose  or 
act  as  an  unconscious  machine. 

3.  "  That  he  can  will  or  act  independently  of  the 
purpose  or  the  providence  of  God. 

4.  "  That  he  is  not  exposed  to  punishment  from 
God,  on  account  of  his  evil  disposition  and  criminal 
conduct. 

5.  "  That  the  light  of  nature  is  sufficient  to  direct 
him  to  the  highest  perfection  and  happiness  of  his 
nature." 


12  DIVINE    REVELATION. 

CHAPTER    III. 

OF   DIVINE    REVELATION. 

1.  The  eternal  God  can,  in  consistency  with  his 
own  glorious  perfections,  and  with  the  nature  of 
man,  make  known  to  the  human  mind  doctrines 
and  facts,  which  could  not  have  been  discovered  by 
any  other  method. 

Is.  Ixiv.  4.  For  since  the  beginniiig  of  the  world,  men  have 
not  heard,  nor  perceived  by  the  ear,  neither  hath  the  eye  seen, 
O  God,  besides  thee,  what  he  hath  prepared  for  him  that 
waiteth  for  him.  1  Cor.  ii.  11.  For  what  man  knoweth  the 
things  of  a  man,  save  the  spirit  of  man  which  is  in  him  ?  even 
so  the  things  of  God  knoweth  no  man,  but  the  Spirit  of  God. 

2.  God  hath,  from  time  to  time,  made  known  to 
men  his  will,  respecting  the  salvation  of  sinners,  and 
hath  authorized  certain  persons,  qualified  for  the 
work,  to  communicate  a  Divine  Revelation  to  man- 
kind, specifying  the  only  method  of  escaping  eternal 
punishment  on  account  of  sin,  and  accompanied 
with  sufficient  evidence  of  its  authenticity. 

Heb.  i.  1.  God,  who  at  sundry  times,  and  in  divers  manners, 
spake  in  time  past  unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets,  hath  in 
these  hist  days  spoken  unto  us  by  his  Son.  Eph.  iii.  9.  And 
to  make  all  men  see  what  is  the  fellowship  of  the  mystery, 
which  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  hath  b3en  hid  in  God, 
who  created  all  things  by  Jesus  Christ. 

3.  It  hath  pleased  God,  in  condescension  to  hu- 
man wants  and  weakness,  to  inspire,  and  infallibly 
to  o^uide,  chosen  men  to  commit  to  writino;  the  Rev- 


DIVINE   REVELATION.  13 

elation  of  his  Will,  for  the  instruction  and  comfort 
of  his  Church  in  the  world. 

2  Tim.  iii.  16.  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of 
Gocl,  and  is  j^rofitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction, 
for  instruction  in  righteousness.  17.  That  the  man  of  God 
may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works. 

4.  All  the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
and  these  only,  are  given  by  inspiration  of  God  ; 
they  contain  a  complete  system  of  faith,  and  a  per- 
fect rule  for  our  direction  in  all  the  duties  of  life  ; 
unto  these  Scriptures  nothing  is  at  any  time  to  be 
added  by  new  revelations  of  the  Spirit,  or  tradi- 
tions of  men. 

2  Pet.  i.  21.  Holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Ps.  cxix.  105.  Thy  word  is  a  lamp  unto 
my  feet  and  a  light  unto  my  j^ath.  John  v.  9.  Search  the 
Scriptures.  Rev.  xxii.  18.  For  I  testify  unto  every  man 
that  heareth  the  words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book.  If  any 
man  shall  add  unto  these  things,  God  shall  add  unto  him  the 
plagues  that  are  written  in  this  book. 

5.  Eational  arguments,  drawn  from  the  miracles 
which  were  wrought  to  attest  the  Divine  Mission 
of  the  inspired  writers,  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy, 
the  sublimity  of  the  doctrines,  their  divine  efficacy, 
the  purity  of  the  precepts,  and  from  the  scope  of 
the  whole,  being  to  give  all  glory  to  God,  are  use- 
ful in  opposing  infidels,  and  are  sufficient  to  pro- 
duce a  rational  persuasion  of  the  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity :  But  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the 
heart  is  necessary  to  give   to   any  man   that   full 


14  DIVINE   REVELATION. 

assurance,  and  comfortable  sense  of  the  divine 
authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  is  included 
in  a  saving  faith. 

1  John  V.  9.  If  we  receive  the  witness  of  men,  the  witness 
of  God  is  greater.  1  Thess.  ii.  13.  For  this  cause  also  thank 
we  God  without  ceasing ;  because  when  ye  received  the  word 
of  God,  which  ye  heard  of  us,  ye  received  it  not  as  the  word 
of  men,  but,  (as  it  is  in  truth,)  the  word  of  God,  which  effec- 
tually worketh  also  in  you  that  believe. 

6.  Tliere  is  a  variety  in  the  style  and  manner  in 
which  different  parts  of  the  Bible  are  wTitten  :  The 
sacred  penmen  used  means  of  information,  and 
employed  different  talents,  and  peculiar  modes  of 
expression ;  but  in  all  they  wrote,  they  were  infal- 
hbly  guided,  as  to  matter  and  manner,  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Translations  may  be  imperfect ;  but  the 
genuine  text  of  the  Old  Testament  in  Hebrew,  and 
the  New  Testament  in  Greek,  is  infallible.  The 
Holy  Ghost,  speaking  in  the  Scriptures,  is  the 
supreme  Judge  in  all  matters  of  religion. 

2  Pet.  iii.  16.  In  which  are  some  things  hard  to  be  under- 
stood. Chap.  i.  21.  For  the  prophecy  came  not  in  old  time 
by  the  will  of  man ;  but  holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Verse  19.  A  more  sure  word  of 
prophecy  :  whereunto  ye  do  well  that  ye  take  heed.  Matt.  v. 
18.  For  verily  I  say  unto  you,  till  heaven  and  earth  pass,  one 
jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from  the  law  till  all  be 
fulfilled.  Is.  viii.  20.  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony ;  if 
they  speak  not  according  to  this  word,  it  is  because  there  is 
no  light  in  them. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors^  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 


HUMAN   REASON.  15 

1.  "  That  a  Divine  Revelation  is  impossible,  or 
unnecessary. 

2.  "  That  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  are  not 
the  word  of  God. 

3.  "  That  the  Old  Testament  is  not  the  word  of 
Christ,  and  of  equal  authority  with  the  New. 

4.  "  That  there  can  be  any  errors  in  the  Bible. 

5.  "  That  any  inward  light  can  set  aside  the  ob- 
vious meaning  of  the  Scriptures; 

6.  "  That  ecclesiastical  authority,  the  writings, 
or  traditions  of  the  ancients,  can  be  admitted  in 
whole,  or  in  part,  as  the  supreme  judge  of  religious 
controversy." 


CHAPTER   IV. 

OF   HUMAN  REASON. 


1.  The  exercise  of  Reason,  with  respect  to  Reve- 
lation, is  lawful  and  necessary.  God  addresses  man 
in  the  Scriptures  as  a  rational  creature :  the  faculty 
of  reasoning  is  the  gift  of  God  ;  and  men  are  bound 
to  exercise  it  in  searching  the  Scriptures,  in  ascer- 
taining all  the  ideas  which  the  word  of  God  con- 
veys to  man,  and  drawing  inferences  for  the  direc- 
tion of  faith  and  manners  from  Scripture  doctrines; 
and  these  inferences,  as  well  as  the  express  words 
of  Revelation,  are  of  divine  authority.  God  hath 
spoken  nothing  the  full  force  of  which  he  did  not 
comprehend. 


16  HUMAN    REASON. 

1  Sam.  xii,  7.  No\r,  therefore,  stand  still,  tliat  I  may  rea- 
son with  you  before  the  Lord.  Eccles.  vii.  '25,  I  applied  mine 
heart  to  know,  and  to  search,  and  to  seek  out  wisdom  and  the 
reason  of  things.  1  Pet.  iii.  15.  And  be  ready  always  to  give 
an  answer  to  every  man  that  asketh  you  a  reason  of  the  hope 
that  is  in  you.  Acts  vi.  2.  It  is  not  reason,  that  we  should 
leave  the  word  of  God  and  serve  tables. 

2.  Human  reason  cannot  previously  determine 
what  God  should  or  should  not  reveal.  There  are 
in  the  Scriptures  doctrines  which  unassisted  rea- 
son could  never  have  discovered ;  and  yet,  when 
revealed,  are  perfectly  intelligible  by  the  human 
mind. 

Is.  xl.  13.  Who  hath  directed  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  or, 
being  his  counsellor,  hath  taught  him?  1  Cor.  i.  20.  Where 
is  the  wise  ?  Where  is  the  scribe  ?  Where  is  the  disputer 
of  this  world  ?  Hath  not  God  made  foolish  the  wisdom  of 
this  world?  Ps. cxix.  130.  The  entrance  of  thy  words  giveth 
light :  It  giveth  understanding  unto  the  simple. 

3.  There  are  taught  in  the  Sacred  Oracles  doc- 
trines which  human  reason  cannot  fully  compre- 
hend. The  fact,  that  they  are  taught  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, is  perfectly  intelligible.  What  these  doc- 
trines are,  and  that  they  are  not  inconsistent  with 
any  other  truths,  may  be  ascertained  by  reason. 
These  doctrines  are  to  be  received  on  the  authority 
of  God.  There  is  no  perception,  of  which  the 
mind  is  capable,  more  certain,  than  that  God  is 
incapable  of  mistake  or  falsehood. 

1  Tim.  iii.  16.  And  without  controversy  great  is  the  mys- 
tery of  godliness.    Verse  9.  Holding  the  mystery  of  the  faith 


THE    FALL    OF    MAN.  17 

in  a  pure  conscience.  Tit.  i.  1.  And  the  acknowledging  of 
the  truth  which  is  after  godliness.  2.  In  hope  of  eternal  life, 
which  God,  that  cannot  lie,  promised. 

4.  The  veracity  of  God,  and  not  the  reasonable- 
ness of  any  doctrine,  is  the  ground  of  our  faith.  It 
is  the  work  of  the  gospel  to  cast  down  reasonings 
against  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  bring  into  cap- 
tivity every  thought  unto  the  obedience  of  Christ. 

1  Cor.  ii.  5.  That  your  faith  should  not  stand  in  the  wis- 
dom of  men,  but  in  the  power  of  God.  2  Cor.  x.  5.  Casting 
down  imaginations  and  every  high  thing  that  exalteth  itself 
against  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  bringing  into  captivity 
every  thought  to  the  obedience  of  Christ. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them. 

1.  "  That  reason  is  the  proper  standard  of  reli- 
gious truth. 

2.  "  That  any  doctrine  contained  in  the  Scrip- 
tures is  unreasonable. 

3.  "  That  there  is  no  incomprehensible  mystery 
taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures." 


CHAPTER  Y. 

OF   THE   FALL   OF  MAN. 

1.  Man  was  created  an  intelligent,  active  being, 
having  a  living  and  immortal  soul,  and  a  body 
which  had  no  tendency  to  sickness  or  death.     His 


18  THE    FALL    OF   MAN. 

principal  glory  was  his  having  tbs  image  of  God 
drawn  upon  his  soul,  and  this  image  chiefly  con- 
sisted in  knowledge,  righteousness,  and  holiness. 

Gen.  ii.  7.  And  the  Lord  God  fonned  man  of  the  dust  of  the 
ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  Hfe ;  and 
man  became  a  living  souh  Chap.  i.  27.  So  God  created  man 
in  his  own  image.    Eccles.  vii.  29.  God  hath  made  man  upright. 

2.  God  created  man  male  and  female ;  and  hav- 
ing purposed  that  this  first  pair,  Adam  and  Eve, 
should  have  a  numerous  ofispring,  he  appointed 
Adam  the  public  head  and  representative  of  all 
mankind,  and  entered  into  a  covenant  with  him  in 
behalf  of  himself  and  all  his  posterity.  In  this 
covenant  God  promised  to  the  whole  human  family 
eternal  life  and  happiness  (with  the  preservation 
of  men  in  their  natural  holiness),  upon  condition 
of  Adam's  perfect  obedience  in  his  state  of  proba- 
tion, and  threatened  eternal  misery  (implying  the 
total  depravity  of  their  nature),  in  case  of  disobe- 
dience ;  pointing  out  to  Adam,  at  the  same  time, 
the  tree  of  hioivledge  of  good  and  evil,  as  the  special 
sign  of  his  probationary  state,  and  prohibiting  him 
to  eat  of  its  fruit. 

Gen.  i.  27.  Male  and  female  created  he  them.  Acts  xv.  18. 
Known  unto  God  are  all  his  woiivs  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world.  Gen.  i.  28.  And  God  blessed  them,  and  God  said 
unto  them,  Be  fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth. 
Kom.  V.  14.  Adam  —  who  is  the  figure  of  him  that  is  to 
come.  Gal.  iii.  12.  And  the  law  is  not  of  faith.  But  the 
man  that  doeth  them  shall  live  in  them.  Gen.  ii.  17.  In  the 
day  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die. 


THE    FALL    OF    MAN.    '  .19 

3.  Adam  consented  to  the  terms  of  this  cove- 
nant ;  and  having  violated  the  condition  of  it,  by 
eating  the  forbidden  fruit,  involved  himself,  and  all 
his  posterity  descending  from  him  by  ordinary  gen- 
eration, in  guilt  and  ruin. 

Rom.  V.  18.  By  the  offence  of  one,  judgment  came  upon  all 
men  to  condemnation.     1  Cor.  xv.  22.  In  Adam  all  die. 

4.  Mankind  are  all  now,  by  nature,  the  children 
of  wrath,  conceived  in  sin,  brought  forth  in  iniquity, 
sunk  in  total  depravity,  become  mortal  in  their 
bodies,  subject  to  disease  and  pain,  incapable  of  do- 
ing any  thing  spiritually  good,  in  a  state  of  enmity 
against  God,  and  condemned  to  endless  misery  in 
the  world  to  come. 

Eph.  ii.  3.  And  were  by  nature  the  children  of  wrath.  Ps. 
li.  5.  Behold,  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity ;  and  in  sin  did  my 
mother  conceive  me.  Eph.  ii.  1.  Dead  in  tresj^asses  and  sins. 
Rom.  V.  17.  By  one  man's  offence  death  reigned.  Chap.  vi.  23. 
For  the  wages  of  sin  is  death.  Chap.  viii.  7.  Because  the  car- 
nal mind  is  enmity  against  God  :  for  it  is  not  subject  to  the 
law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be.  8.  So  then,  they  that  are 
in  the  flesh  cannot  please  God:  Gal.  iii.  10.  Cursed  is  every 
one  that  continueth  not  in  all  things  which  are  written  in  the 
book  of  the  law  to  do  them. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "That  Adam  was  not  a  covenant  head  and 
representative  to  all  his  posterity. 

2.  "  That  none  of  Adam's  posterity  is  esteemed 
guilty  or  condemned  on  account  of  his  first  trans- 
gression. 


20  OF   ELECTION. 

20.  "  That  fallen  man  is  not  so  depraved  but  he 
is  able  to  please  God,  and  offer  acceptable  worship 
in  his  own  natural  strength." 


CHAPTER  VL 

OF  ELECTION. 

1.  Jehovah,  according  to  his  own  most  wise  coun- 
sel, and  for  his  own  glory,  hath,  from  all  eternity, 
unchangeably  determined  the  final  state  of  all  his 
creatures. 

Acts  XV.  18.  Known  unto  God  are  all  his  works  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world.  Prov.  xvi.  4.  The  Lord  hath  made 
all  things  for  himself. 

2.  In  order  to  make  a  glorious  display  of  his  own 
infinite  excellences,  he  hath  eternally  elected,  in 
Christ  Jesus,  a  definite  number  of  mankind,  sinners, 
unto  everlasting  holiness  and  happiness;  and  in  his 
sovereign  pleasure,  passing  by  the  rest,  he  hath,  on 
account  of  their  sins,  ordained  them  to  everlasting 
condemnation. 

Eph.  i.  4.  He  hath  chosen  us  in  him  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world.  11.  Being  predestinated  according  to  the  pur- 
pose of  him  who  workelh  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  his 
own  will.  Rom.  ix.  22-23.  What  if  God,  willing  to  show 
his  wrath,  and  make  his  power  known,  endured,  with  much 
long  suffering,  the  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  to  destruction,  and 
that  he  might  make  known  the  riches  of  his  glory  on  the 
vessels  of  mercy,  which  he  had  afore  prepared  unto  glory. 


OF   ELECTION.  21 

3.  God  did  perfectly  foreknow  all  the  effects 
which  all  the  second  causes  which  he  appointed 
should  produce.  But  it  is  not  on  account  of  the 
foreseen  faith  or  goodness  of  any  man,  that  God 
predestinated  him  to  everlasting  life. 

Ps.  cxlvii.  5.  His  understanding  is  infinite.  Rom.  ix.  11. 
For  the  children  being  not  yet  born,  neither  having  done  any 
good  or  evil,  that  the  purjiose  of  God  according  to  election 
might  stand,  not  of  v^orks,  but  of  him  that  calleth.  18.  There- 
fore hath  he  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy,  and  whom 
he  will  he  hardeneth. 

4.  In  the  Decree  of  Election  are  included  all 
the  means  necessary  to  the  salvation  of  sinners,  in 
a  manner  perfectly  consistent  with  the  attributes 
of  God,  and  the  faculties  which  he  hath  given  to 
the  human  mind. 

Eph.  i.  5.  Having  predestinated  us  unto  the  adoption  of 
children  by  Jesus  Christ  to  himself,  according  to  the  good 
pleasure  of  his  will.  Ps.  ex.  3.  Thy  people  shall  be  willing 
in  the  day  of  thy  power.  Rom.  viii.  30.  Moreover,  whom  he 
did  predestinate,  them  he  also  called,  and  whom  he  called, 
them  he  also  justified;  and  whom  he  justified,  them  he  also 
glorified. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors^  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "  That  God  created  anything  without  determin- 
ing what  should  be  its  final  end  and  condition. 

2.  "  That  election  to  eternal  life  is  founded  upon 
the  foreseen  improvement  of  the  means  of  grace. 

3.  "  That  election  means  no  more,  in  Scripture, 


22  CHRIST   THE   MEDIATOR. 

than  the  choice  of  some  persons,  as  church  mem- 
bers, to  external  privileges. 

4.  "  That  it  is  unjust  in  God  to  choose  some  sin- 
ners to  salvation,  and  leave  others,  no  more  sinful 
than  they,  to  suffer  merited  condemnation. 

5.  "  That  any  of  the  Elect  shall  be  eternally  lost, 
or  any  except  the  Elect  finally  saved." 


CHAPTEK  VII. 

OF  CHRIST  THE  MEDIATOR. 

1.  It  pleased  God,  in  his  eternal  purpose,  to 
choose  and  ordain  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  be  the 
only  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  and  to  con- 
stitute him  the  public  Head  and  Representative  of 
all  the  Elect. 

1  Tim.  ii.  5.  For  there  is  one  God,  and  one  Mediator  be- 
tween God  and  man,  the  man  Christ  Jesus.  1  Pet.  i.  20.  Who 
verily  was  foreordained  before  the  foundation  of  the  world. 
Eph.  1.  22.  And  gave  him  to  be  the  head  over  all  things  to 
the  church,  which  is  his  body. 

2.  Christ  the  Mediator  is  the  Second  Person  in 
the  Godhead  —  the  true  and  eternal  God,  equal 
with  the  Father  —  having  the  names  and  all  the  per- 
fections of  God  ascribed  to  him  —  the  Creator,  the 
Preserver,  and  Governor  of  all  the  creatures  which 
exist ;  and  equally  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  object  of  the  worship  both  of  angels  and 
men. 


CHRIST   THE   MEDIATOR.  23 

1  John  V.  20.  And  we  know  that  the  Son  of  God  is  come  — 
This  is  the  true  God.  Phil.  ii.  6.  Who  being  in  the  form  of 
God  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God.  Rom.  ix. 
5.  Christ  came,  who  is  over  all,  God  blessed  forever.  Heb.  i. 
3.  Who  being  the  brightness  of  his  glory,  and  the  express 
image  of  his  person,  and  upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of 
his  power.  6.  And  again,  when  he  bringeth  the  first  begotten 
into  the  world,  he  saith,  And  let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship 
him.  8.  But  unto  the  Son  he  saith,  thy  throne,  O  God,  is  for- 
ever and  ever.  Rev.  v.  11.  And  I  heard  the  voice  of  many 
angels  round  about  the  throne,  and  the  beasts  and  the  elders. 
12.  Saying  with  a  loud  voice,  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain  to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strength, 
and  honor,  and  glory,  and  blessing.  13.  And  every  creature 
heard  I,  saying,  blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory,  and  power,  be 
unto  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb 
forever  and  ever. 

3.  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  is  the  eternally  begot- 
ten Son  of  God  ;  he  is  not  called  the  Son  of  God 
on  account  of  his  office  or  his  human  nature,  but 
is  naturally,  necessarily,  and  eternally  the  Son  of 
the  Father. 

Heb.  i.  5.  Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee. 
Prov.  viii.  22.  The  Lord  possessed  me  in  the  beginning,  of  his 
ways,  before  his  works  of  old.  23.  I  was  set  up  from  ever- 
lasting, from  the  beginning,  or  ever  the  earth  was.  30.  And 
I  was  daily  his  delight,  rejoicing  always  before  him.  John  i. 
14.  And  we  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begot- 
ten of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth.  John  iii.  16.  God 
so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  ever- 
lasting life. 

4.  The  eternal  Son  of  God  did,  in  the  fulness  of 
time,  assume  into  an  inseparable   union  with  his 


24  CHRIST   THE   MEDIATOR. 

Divine  Person,  a  human  nature  (soul  and  body), 
being  conceived  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
in  the  womb  of  the  virgin  Mary,  and  born  of  her, 
yet  without  sin. 

Gal.  iv.  4.  God  sent  forth  his  Son,  made  of  a  woman.  Heb. 
ii.  17.  Wherefore  in  all  things  it  behooved  him  to  be  made 
like  unto  his  brethren.  Luke  i.  31.  Behold,  thou  shalt  con- 
ceive in  thy  womb,  and  bring  forth  a  son,  and  shalt  call  his 
name  Jesus.  32.  He  shall  be  great,  and  shall  be  called  the 
Son  of  the  Highest.  33.  And  he  shall  reign  over  the  house 
of  Jacob  forever;  and  of  his  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end. 
35.  The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of 
the  Highest  shall  overshadow  thee :  therefore  also  that  holy 
thing  that  shall  be  bom  of  thee  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God. 
Heb.  vii.  26.  For  such  an  high-priest  became  us,  who  is  holy, 
hannless,  undefiled,  sej^arate  from  sinners. 

5.  Jesus  Christ,  as  Mediator,  is  God-man,  in  one 
person  and  two  natures,  whole,  perfect,  and  dis- 
tinct, inseparably  joined  together,  without  compo- 
sition or  confusion. 

1  Tim.  iii.  16.  God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh.  John  i.  14. 
And  the  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us.  Rom. 
ix.  5.  Of  whom,  as  concerning  the  flesh,  Christ  came,  who  is 
over  all,  God  blessed  forever.  Matt.  xxvi.  38.  My  soul  is  ex- 
ceeding sorrowful,  even  unto  death.  Heb  vii.  24.  But  this 
man,  because  he  continueth  forever,  hath  an  unchangeable 
priesthood, 

6.  God  manifested  in  the  flesh  will  never  cease 
to  be  the  Mediator ;  but  as  the  Prophet,  the  Priest, 
and  the  King,  shall  remain  through  eternity  in  full 
possession  of  the  glory  of  God,  the  Head  of  his  body 
the  church. 


CHRIST    THE   MEDIATOR.  25 

John  xvii.  5.  And  now,  O  Father,  glorify  thou  me  with 
thine  own  self,  with  the  glory  which  I  had  with  thee  before 
the  world  was.  Heb.  i.  3.  Being  the  brightness  of  his  glory, 
and  the  express  image  of  his  person.  Rev.  xxi.  23.  And  the 
city  had  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon,  to  shine  on 
it,  for  the  glory  of  God  did  lighten  it,  and  the  Lamb  is  the 
light  thereof.  Acts  iii.  23.  A  prophet  shall  the  Lord  your 
God  raise  up  unto  you  —  him  shall  ye  hear.  Heb.  v.  6.  Thou 
art  a  priest  forever.  Rev.  xix.  16.  King  of  kings,  and  Lord 
of  lords. 

7.  Jesus  Christ  in  his  human  nature  was  anointed 
with  the  Holy  Spirit  above  measure,  and  thoroughly 
furnished  for  executing  the  work  of  the  mediatorial 
office,  which  he  voluntarily  undertook,  having  been 
appointed  thereunto  by  God. 

Acts  X.  38.  God  anointed  Jesus  of  Xazareth  with  the 
Holy  Ghost.  John  iii.  34.  For  God  giveth  not  the  Spiiit  by 
measure  unto  him.  Chap.  vi.  57.  As  the  living  Father  hath 
sent  me,  and  I  live  by  the  Father,  so  he  that  eateth  me  shall 
live  by  me. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "  That  Jesus  Christ  is  no  more  than  a  creature. 

2.  "  That  the  Mediator  does  not  possess  the  same 
nature  with  God  the  Father. 

3.  "  That  the  Sonship  of  Christ  is  not  necessary 
and  eternal. 

4.  ''  That  the  Mediator  has  not  a  true  body  and 
a  reasonable  soul. 

5.  "  That  the  man  Christ  Jesus  could  have  been 
influenced  by  any  bias  contrary  to  holiness. 


26  THE   HOLY   SPIRIT. 

6.  "  That  the  Divine  nature  is  not  personally 
united  to  the  human  nature. 

7.  "  That  the  human  nature  is  blended  or  min- 
gled with  the  Divinity. 

8.  "  That  the   human  soul  of  Christ  did  exist 
previously  to  the  incarnation. 

9.  "  That  Jesus  Christ  is  not  a  distinct  person 
from  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit. 

10.  "  That  God-man,  the  Mediator,  is  not  entitled 
to  the  worship  of  angels  and  men." 


CHAPTER  Vin. 

OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 

1.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  a  Divine  Person,  who 
understands,  wills,  and  acts,  in  teaching,  witnessing, 
sealing,  sanctifying,  and  comforting. 

Luke  xii.  12.  The  Holy  Ghost  shall  teach  you.  Rom.  viii. 
16.  The  Spirit  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit.  Eph.  iv.  30. 
The  Holy  Spirit  wherewith  ye  are  sealed.  2  Thess.  ii.  13. 
God  hath  chosen  you  to  salvation,  through  sanctification  of 
the  Spirit.  John  xiv.  16.  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  will 
give  you  another  Comforter,  even  the  Spirit. 

2.  The  person  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  naturally  and 
necessarily  distinct  from  the  person  of  the  Father, 
and  from  the  person  of  the  Son :  and  it  is  his  per- 
sonal property,  that  he  eternally  proceeds  from  the 
Father  and  the  Son,  in  a  manner  which  is  incom- 
prehensible by  man. 


THE   HOLY    SPIRIT.  27 

1  Pet.  i.  2.  Elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God 
the  Father,  through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit  unto  obedience, 
and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Christ.  2  Cor.  xiii.  14.  The 
grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  love  of  God,  and  the  com- 
munion of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  with  you  all.  Amen.  John 
XV.  26.  The  Spirit  of  truth  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father. 
Gal.  iv.  26.  The  Spirit  of  his  Son. 

3.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  equal  in  perfection  and 
glory  with  God  the  Father,  and  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  equally  the  object  of  religious  worship ; 
the  Author  of  life,  vegetative,  animal,  and  rational, 
the  Preserver  and  Sanctifier. 

Psalm  cxliii.  10.  Thy  Spirit  is  good.  1  Cor.  ii.  10.  The 
Spirit  searcheth  all  things,  yea,  the  deep  things  of  God.  1 
Pet.  iv.  14.  The  Spirit  of  glory  and  of  God  resteth  upon  you. 
Matt,  xxviii.  19.  Baj^tizing  them  in  the  name  of  the.  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Gen.  i.  2.  The  Spirit 
of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters.  Job  xxxiii.  4. 
The  Spirit  of  God  hath  made  me.  Psalm  civ.  30.  Thou 
sendest  forth  thy  Spirit,  they  are  created,  and  thou  renewest 
the  face  of  the  earth.  Job  xxxiv.  14.  If  he  gather  unto  him- 
self his  Spirit  and  his  breath,  all  flesh  shall  perish  together. 
Rom.  XV.  16.  Being  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors^  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "  That  the  Holy  Spirit  is  no  more  than  a 
Divine  attribute. 

2.  '-  That  he  is  a  creature. 

3.  "  That  he  is  essentially  inferior  to  God." 


28  COVENANT   OF   GRACE. 

CHAPTEK  IX. 

OF  THE  COVENANT  OF  GRACE. 

1.  God,  from  all  eternity,  having  foreseen  the 
fall  of  man,  by  the  breach  of  the  covenant  of  works, 
and  having  predestinated  some  sinners  to  everlasting 
life  and  happiness,  did  enter  into  a  Covenant  of 
Grace,  to  deliver  them  from  an  estate  of  sin  and 
misery,  and  bring  them  into  a  staXe  of  salvation  by 
Jesus  Christ. 

1  Thess.  V.  9.  For  God  hath  not  appointed  us  to  wrath ; 
but  to  obtain  salvation  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Tit.  i.  2. 
In  hope  of  eternal  life,  which  God,  that  cannot  lie,  promised 
before  the  world  began.  Is.  xlii.  6.  And  will  give  thee  for  a 
covenant  of  the  people. 

2.  The  Covenant  of  Grace  is  an  agreement 
between  God,  in  the  person  of  the  Father,  and  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  pubUc  Head  of  elect  sin- 
ners, in  which  God  engages  to  bestow  eternal  life 
and  glory  upon  all  the  Elect,  on  condition  that 
Christ  shall  fulfil  all  righteousness  as  their  Repre- 
sentative. 

Zech.  vi.  13.  And  the  counsel  of  peace  shall  be  between 
them  both.  John  vi.  57.  The  living  Fatli^r  hath  sent  me,  and 
I  live  by  the  Father.  1  Cor.  xv.  22.  For  as  in  Adam  all  die, 
so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.  23.  Christ  the  lirst  fruits, 
afterward  they  that  are  Christ's.  Is.  liii.  10.  When  thou  shalt 
make  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin,  he  shall  see  his  seed.  11. 
He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  shall  be  satisfied. 

3.  This  is,  unto  us,  a  covenant  of  Promise,  in 
which  God,  being  moved  thereunto,  not  by  any 


COVENANT    OF    GRACE.  29 

excellency  in  the  creature,  but  by  his  own  love  and 
grace,  promises  to  all  whom  Christ  represented,  all 
the  good  things  of  which  they  shall  have  need  in 
the  present  and  future  states  of  existence. 

Is.  lix.  21.  As  for  me,  this  is  my  covenant  with  them,  saith 
the  Lord,  my  Spirit  that  is  upon  thee,  and  my  words  which  I 
have  put  in  thy  mouth,  shall  not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth,  nor 
out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed,  nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy 
seed's  seed,  from  henceforth  and  forever.  Rom.  viii.  32.  He 
that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all, 
how  shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  us  all  things  ?  2 
Cor.  i.  20.  For  all  the  promises  of  God  in  him  are  yea,  and  in 
him,  Amen,  unto  the  glory  of  God  by  us. 

4.  All  the  promises  of  God  to  the  Elect  are 
made  upon  condition  that  Christ  shall  fulfil  the  law, 
and  satisfy  Divine  Justice,  as  their  Substitute,  so 
that  the  condition,  upon  which  the  things  promised 
shall  be  conferred,  is  not  to  be  performed  by  the 
Elect,  but  by  the  Surety  ;  and  that  same  establish' 
ment,  which  is  to  them  a  Covenant  of  free  Grace,  is 
to  him  a  Covenant  of  Redemption. 

Is.  liii.  5.  But  he  was  wounded  for  our  transgi-essions,  he 
was  bruised  for  our  iniquities  ;  the  chastisement  of  our  peace 
was  upon  him;  and  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed.  10. 
When  thou  shalt  make  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin,  he  shall 
see  his  seed,  he  shall  prolong  his  days ;  and  the  pleasure 
of  the  Lord  shall  prosper  in  his  hand.  Heb.  vii.  22.  Jesus 
made  a  surety  of  a  better  testament.  Chap.  ix.  15.  He  is  the 
Mediator  of  the  New  Testament,  that  by  means  of  death,  for 
the  redemption  of  the  transgressions  that  were  under  the  first 
testament,  they  which  were  called  might  receive  the  promise 
of  eternal  inheritance.  Chap.  x.  5.  Sacrifice  and  offering  thou 
wouldst  not.     9.  Then  said  he,  Lo,  I  come  to  do  thy  will,  O 


30  COVENANT    OF    GRACE. 

God.     10.  By  the  which  will  we  are  sanctified,  through  the 
ofiering  of  the  body  of  Christ,  once  for  all. 

5.  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  having  fulfilled  the 
condition  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  has  purchased 
a  right  to  have  all  the  promises  applied  in  their 
true  spirit  and  design  to  all  his  people,  and  has 
consequently  received  from  God  all  fulness,  that  he 
might  himself  dispose  of  all  the  promised  blessings, 
as  purchased  benefits  to  his  spiritual  seed. 

Eph.  i.  7.  In  whom  we  have  redemption  through  his  blood. 
Heb.  ii.  9.  But  we  see  Jesus,  who  was  made  a  little  lower 
than  the  angels,  for  the  sufiering  of  death,  crowned  with  glory 
and  honor.  Chap.  i.  2.  Whom  he  hath  appointed  heir  of  all 
things.  Luke  xxiv.  49.  And  behold,  I  send  the  promise  of 
my  Father  upon  you.  2  Cor.  i.  20.  For  all  the  promises  of 
God  in  him  are  yea,  and  in  him,  Amen.  Chap.  iv.  15.  For  all 
things  are  for  your  sakes.  Col.  i.  19.  For  it  pleased  the 
Father  that  in  him  should  all  fulness  dwell.  John  i.  16.  And 
of  his  fulness  have  all  we  received,  and  grace  for  grace.  Matt, 
vi.  32.  For  your  heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need 
of  all  these  things.  1  Cor.  iii.  21.  For  all  things  are  yours. 
22.  Things  present,  or  things  to  come,  all  are  yours. 

6.  Jesus  Christ,  the  Mediator  between  God  and 
man,  makes  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  a  testa- 
mentary dispensation  to  all  his  people  ;  and,  as  by 
his  death  he  fulfilled  what  he  undertook  as  our 
Representative  to  God,  so  also  he  hath  sealed  and 
ratified  the  dispensation  of  God's  grace  to  man,  as 
his  own  proper  testament,  which  he  ever  lives  to 
execute  and  administer. 

Luke  xxii.  29.  And  I  appoint  unto  you  a  kingdom,  as  my 
Father  hath  appointed  unto  me.     Heb.  vii.  22.  By  so  much 


COVENANT    OF    GRACE.  31 

was  Jesus  made  a  surety  of  a  bfetter  testament.  Chap.  viii.  6. 
He  is  the  Mediator  of  a  better  covenant,  which  was  estabUshed 
upon  better  promises.  Chap.  ix.  16.  For  where  a  testament 
is,  there  must  also,  of  necessity,  be  the  death  of  the  testator. 
24.  For  Christ  is  not  entered  into  the  holy  place  made  with 
hands  —  but  into  heaven  itself,  now  to  appear  in  the  presence 
of  God  for  us.  Chap.  x.  16.  This  is  the  covenant  that  I  will 
make  with  them — I  will  put  my  law  into  their  hearts.  21. 
And  having  an  high  priest  over  the  house  of  God,  22.  let  us 
draw  near  with  a  true  heart. 

7.  The  Covenant  of  Grace  being  formed  with 
Christ  as  a  Federal  Head,  all  the  Elect  are  in  him, 
as  their  Representative,  a  party  with  God  in  the 
covenant,  and  to  this  each  individual  shall  consent, 
when  effectually  called,  to  choose  the  Mediator  as 
his  Representative  in  particular;  every  true  be- 
liever has  to  say,  God  hath  made  with  me  an  ever- 
lasting covenant,  ordered  in  all  things  and  sure. 

Is.  Iv.  3.  Incline  your  ear,  and  come  unto  me ;  hear,  and 
your  soul  shall  live ;  and  I  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant 
with  you,  even  the  sure  mercies  of  David.  2  Sam.  xxiii.  5. 
He  hath  made  with  me  an  everlasting  covenant,  ordered  in 
all  things  and  sure. 

8.  Every  blessing,  which  God  promises  to  bestow 
upon  believers,and  every  thing  which  they  receive  in 
time,  and  through  eternity,  comes  through  the  chan- 
nel of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  and  is  purchased  for 
them  by  Christ's  obedience  unto  the  death ;  never- 
theless, the  grace  of  God,  as  well  as  that  of  Christ, 
shines  forth  in  our  salvation,  inasmuch  as  the  Sa- 
viour himself  is  the  gift  of  God  to  man,  and  the 
evidence  of  God's  infinite  mercy,  grace,  and  love. 


32  COVENANT    OF    GRACE. 

1  Cor.  iii.  21.  Therefore  let  no  man  glory  in  men ;  for  all 
things  are  yours.  23.  And  ye  are  Christ's,  and  Christ  is  God's. 
2  Cor.  i.  20.  For  all  the  promises  of  God  in  him  are  yea,  and 
in  him,  Amen.  John  iii.  16.  For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that 
ho  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.  Rom.  v.  21. 
Even  so  might  grace  reign  through  righteousness. 

9.  The  goodness  of  the  Elect  is  not  the  cause  of 
their  being  taken  into  this  covenant,  neither  is  faith, 
repentance,  sincere  obedience,  nor  any  other  thing, 
except  the  righteousness  of  the  Surety,  the  condi- 
tion of  it ;  but  God  has  promised,  in  this  covenant, 
to  bestow  on  all  the  Elect,  faith,  repentance,  and 
holiness,  as  well  as  happiness ;  and  Christ,  their 
glorious  Head,  enables  them  to  believe,  repent,  and 
live  a  life  of  sincere  godliness. 

Tit.  iii.  5.  Not  by  works  of  righteousness  which  we  have 
done,  but  according  to  his  mercy  he  saved  us,  by  the  washing 
of  regeneration  and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  6.  Which 
he  shed  on  us  abundantly  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour. 
7.  That  being  justified  by  his  grace  we  should  be  made  heirs, 
according  to  the  hope  of  eternal  life.  Jer.  xxiii.  6.  This  is 
the  name  whereby  he  shall  be  called.  The  Lord  our  Right- 
eousness. Phil.  i.  29.  For  unto  you  it  is  given  in  the  behalf 
of  Christ,  not  only  to  believe  on  him,  but  also  to  suffer  for  his 
sake.     Heb.  xii.  2.  Jesus  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them : 

1.  "  That  Christ  is  not  the  Representative  of  any 
definite  number  of  mankind. 

2.  "That  God  has  formed  no  covenant  with 
Jesus  Christ  as  our  public  Head  and  Saviour. 


Christ's  satisfaction.  33 

3.  "That  there  are,  besides  the  Covenant  of 
Works,  two  distinct  covenants ;  one,  a  Covenant 
of  Eedemption  made  with  Christ ;  and  the  other,  a 
Covenant  of  Grace  made  with  iis,  distinct  from  the 
Covenant  of  Eedemption. 

4.  "  That  Faith  is  the  condition  of  the  Covenant 
of  Grace. 

5.  "  That  God's  gracious  promises  are  suspended 
upon  conditions  to  be  performed  by  man. 

6.  "  That  God  promises  any  favor  to  sinners  in 
any  other  w\ay  than  through  the  purchase  of  Christ." 


CHAPTER  X. 

OF   CHRIST'S   SATISFACTION. 

1.  In  every  display  of  his  grace,  God  preserves 
the  lustre  of  his  holiness  and  justice.  The  har- 
mony of  his  attributes  necessary  to  the  eminence  of 
his  perfection,  requires  that  a  complete  satisfaction 
be  made  for  all  the  sins  of  those  who  shall  be  saved. 

Rom.  V.  21.  Grace  reions  throu2:h  risrhteousness.  Psalm 
Ixxxv.  10.  Mercy  and  truth  are  met  together :  righteousness 
and  peace  have  kissed  each  other.  Heb.  ix.  22.  And  without 
shedding  of  blood  is  no  remission. 

2.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  public  Head  of 
his  Elect,  assumed  a  human  nature,  perfectly  holy, 
in  which  he,  in  the  roorti  of  his  people,  fulfilled  the 
law,  and    suffered    its   penalty;   making  a  perfect 

3 


34  Christ's  satisfaction. 

atonement  for  all  their  sins,  by  offering  himself  as 
a  sacrifice  unto  God. 

Heb.  X.  5.  Wherefore  when  he  cometh  into  the  world,  he 
saith,  Sacrifice  and  offering  thou  wouldest  not,  but  a  body  hast 
thou  i^repared  me.  9.  Lo,  I  come  to  do  thy  will,  O  God.  14. 
For  by  one  offering  he  hath  perfected  forever  them  that  are 
sanctified.  Chap.  vii.  26.  For  such  an  high  priest  became  us, 
who  is  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from  sinners. 

3.  Christ  did  not  in  any  sense  suffer  for  the  sins 
of  all  mankind,  nor  did  he  lay  down  his  life  to  make 
an  atonement  for  an  indefinite  number  of  sinners. 
There  is  indeed  an  infinite  sufficiency  in  his  sacri- 
fice to  save  the  whole  world,  had  it  been  designed 
to  produce  that  effect;  but  in  the  purpose  of  God 
and  in  the  undertaking  of  Christ,  it  was  not  con- 
templated that  he  should  make  atonement  for  any 
except  those  who  were  elected  in  him  to  everlasting 
life :  these  only  he  represented,  and  these  only 
shall  be  saved  through  his  redemption. 

John  X.  14.  I  am  the  good  Sliepherd,  and  know  my  sheep. 
15.  And  I  lay  down  my  Ufe  for  the  sh-eep.  26.  But  ye  believe 
not,  because  ye  are  not  of  ray  sheep.  27.  My  sheep  hear  my 
voice,  and  I  know  them.  28.  And  I  give  unto  them  eternal 
life;  and  they  shall  never  perish,  neither  shall  any  pluck  them 
out  of  my  hand.  29.  My  Father  which  gave  them  me  is 
greater  than  all,  and  none  is  able  to  pluck  them  out  of  my 
Father's  hand.  30.  I  and  my  Father  are  one.  Is.  xlii.  2.  The 
Lord  is  well  pleased,  for  his  righteousness'  sake  he  will  mag- 
nify the  law  and  make  it  honorable.  Rom.  iii.  25.  Whom 
God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation.  Acts  xx.  28.  The 
church  of  God,  which  he  hath  purchased  with  his  own  blood. 
John  xvii.  9.  I  pray  not  for  the  world,  but  for  them  which 


Christ's  satisfaction.  35 

thou  hast  given  me ;  for  they  are  thine.  10.  And  all  thine 
are  mine,  and  mine  are  thine.  Rev.  v.  9.  And  they  sung  a 
new  song,  saying,  Thou  wast  slain  and  hast  redeemed  us  to 
God  by  thy  blood,  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  peo- 
ple, and  nation. 

4.  The  reprobate  world,  by  means  of  their  con- 
nection with  God's  Elect,  who  live  among  them,  or 
may  descend  from  them,  are  partakers  of  some  ben- 
efits which  flow  from  Christ's  death  ;  the  gospel 
Revelation  meliorates  the  state  of  society ;  Divine 
judgments  are  sometimes  averted  for  the  sake  of 
the  saints ;  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  nations  are 
furthered  by  the  providence  of  God  over  his  peo- 
ple ;  benevolence  and  temperance  are  promoted 
by  ecclesiastical  discipline;  the  world  is  continued 
under  its  present  economy  until  all  the  Elect  are 
brought  to  salvation :  these  and  similar  benefits,  of 
which  the  ungodly  partake,  are  necessary  conse- 
quences of  Christ's  purchase  and  care  of  his  church, 
foreseen  by  God,  in  forming  the  system  of  grace, 
having  been  predestinated  from  eternity. 

Is.  xlv.  1.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  to  his  anointed,  to  Cyrus, 
whose  right  hand  I  have  holden  to  subdue  nations  before 
thee.  2.  I  will  go  before  thee,  and  make  the  crooked  places 
straight.  3.  And  I  will  give  thee  the  treasures  of  darkness, 
and  hidden  riches.  4.  For  Jacob  my  servant's  sake,  and  Israel 
mine  elect.  Matt.  v.  13.  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth.  14.  Ye 
are  the  light  of  the  world.  Chap.  xiii.  29.  But  he  said.  Nay ; 
lest  while  ye  gather  up  the  tares,  ye  root  up  also  the  wheat 
with  them.  Is.  Ixv.  8.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  as  the  new  wine 
is  found  in  the  cluster,  and  one  saith.  Destroy  it  not,  for  a 
blessing  is  in  it :  so  will  I  do  for  my  servants'  sake,  that  I 


36  Christ's  satisfaction. 

may  not  destroy  them  all.  Matt.  xxiv.  22.  And  except  those 
days  should  be  shortened,  there  should  no  flesh  be  saved : 
but  for  the  elect's  sake,  those  days  shall  be  shortened.  Jer. 
xxix.  7.  And  seek  the  peace  of  the  city,  whither  I  have 
caused  you  to  be  carried  away  captives,  and  pray  unto  the 
Lord  for  it :  for  in  the  peace  thereof  shall  ye  have  peace.  Gen. 
xxxix.  5.  The  Lord  blessed  the  Egyptian's  house  for  Joseph's 
sake.  Gal.  vi.  10.  As  we  have,  therefore,  opportunity,  let  us 
do  good  to  all  men,  especially  unto  them  who  are  of  the 
household  of  faith.  Gen.  xviii.  26.  And  the  Lord  said,  If  I 
find  in  Sodom  fifty  righteous  within  the  city,  then  I  will  spare 
all  the  place  for  their  sakes.  Psalm  .Ixxv.  3.  The  earth  and  all 
the  inhabitants  thereof  are  dissolved :  I  bear  up  the  pillars 
of  it.  Heb.  xi.  7.  By  faith,  Noah  prepared  an  ark  to  the 
saving  of  his  house.  Gen.  ix.  11.  And  I  will  establish  my 
covenant  with  you ;  neither  shall  there  any  more  be  a  flood 
to  destroy  the  earth.  Is.  vi.  13.  As  a  teil-tree,  or  as  an  oak, 
whose  substance  is  in  them  when  they  cast  their  leaves,  so  the 
Holy  Seed  shall  be  the  substance  thereof. 

5.  Christ  has  redeemed  all  the  Elect,  soul  and 
body,  from  the  curse  of  the  Law,  and  has  purchased 
for  them  all  the  comforts  promised  in  God's  word ; 
and  every  believer  has  a  new  covenant  right, 
through  the  precious  blood  of  Christ,  to  every  thing 
necessary  for  body  and  soul,  in  time  and  through 
eternity. 

Eph.  i.  7.  In  whom  we  have  redemption  through  his  blood. 
1  Cor.  vi.  19.  What !  Know  ye  not  that  your  body  is  the  tem- 
ple of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  —  and  ye  are  not  your  own,  20.  For 
ye  are  bought  with  a  price:  therefore  glorify  God  in  your 
body,  and  in  your  spirit,  which  are  God's.  1  Cor.  xv.  44.  It 
is  sown  a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a  spiritual  body.  45.  The 
last  Adam  was  made  a  quickening  spirit.  Ver.  21.  For  since 
by  man  came  death,  by  man  came  also  the  resurrection  of  the 


Christ's  satisfaction.  37 

dead.  2  Cor.  i.  20.  For  all  the  promises  of  God  in  him  are 
yea.  1  Tim.  iv.  8.  Godliness  is  profitable  unto  all  things,  hav- 
ing promise  of  the  life  that  now  is  and  of  that  which  is  to 
come.  Matt.  vi.  11.  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread.  31. 
Therefore  take  no  thought,  saying,  What  shall  we  eat? 
What  shall  we  drink  ?  or.  Wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed  ? 
32.  For  your  heavenly  Father  knoweththat  ye  have  need  of 
all  these  things.  33.  And  all  these  things  shall  be  added 
unto  you.  Rom.  iv.  13.  For  the  promise  that  he  should  be 
the  heir  of  the  world,  was  not  to  Abraham,  or  to  his  seed, 
throuo;h  the  law,  but  througjh  the  riojhteousness  of  faith.  16. 
Therefore  it  is  of  faith,  that  it  might  be  by  grace  ;  to  the  end 
the  promise  might  be  sure  to  all  the  seed  —  which  is  of  the 
faith  of  Abraham,  who  is  the  father  of  us  all.  1  Cor.  iii.  22. 
Whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  Cephas,  or  the  world,  or  life,  oi 
death,  or  things  present,  or  things  to  .come ;  all  are  yours. 
Acts  ii.  46.  Did  eat  their  meat  with  gladness  and  singleness 
of  heart.  1  Tim.  iv.  3.  IMeats  which  God  hath  created  to  be 
received  with  thanksgiving  of  them  which  believe  and  know 
the  truth.  4.  For  every  creature  of  God  is  good  —  if  it  be 
received  with  thanksgiving:  5.  For  it  is  sanctified  by  the 
word  of  God  and  prayer.  Deut.  xxviii.  5.  Blessed  shall  be 
thy  basket  and  thy  store.  1  Cor.  x.  31.  Whether,  therefore, 
ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of 
God.  Heb.  xi.  6.  But  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please 
him. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  agcainst  all  who  maintain  them : 

1.  "  That  God  saves  sinners  without  ajiy  atone- 
ment. 

2.  "  That  Immanuel  died  merely  as  a  martyr. 

3.  "  That  Christ  died  equally  for  all  mankind. 

4.  "  That  Christ  died  for  no  person  in  particular, 
but  that  the  atonement  is  indefinite. 


38  THE    GOSPEL    OFFER. 

5.  "  That  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  is  not  a  perfect 
and  complete  satisfaction  to  Divine  Justice,  and 
fully  adequate  to  our  eternal  redemption. 

6.  "  That  Jesus  Christ  did  not  purchase  temporal 
benefits  for  believers. 

7.  "That  Christ  purchased  any  benefit  for  the 
reprobate." 


CHAPTER  XL 

OF  THE  GOSPEL  OFFER. 

1.  The  Gospel  is  the  Revelation,  which  God 
has  given  to  man,  of  the  plan  of  salvation  by  a 
Redeemer :  this  is  glad  tidings,  worthy  of  all  ac- 
ceptation by  sinners. 

Acts  XV.  7.  That  the  Gentiles  by  my  mouth  should  hear  the 
Avord  of  the  gospel  and  believe.  1  Tim.  i.  15.  This  is  a  faith- 
ful saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus 
came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners. 

2.  Preaching  the  Gospel  consists  in  the  offer  of 
salvation  through  Christ  to  sinners,  accompanied 
with  such  an  explanation  of  the  various .  parts  of 
God's  word  as  may  tend  to  persuade  men  to  receive 
Christ  as  a  Saviour,  and  to  live  and  walk  in  him. 

2  Cor.  V.  20.  Now  then  we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as 
though  God  did  beseech  you ;  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead 
be  ye  reconciled  to  God.  Matt,  xxviii.  20.  Teaching  them  to 
observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you.  Is.  Iv. 
1.  Ho  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters.  2. 
Wherefore  do  ye  spend  money  for  that  which  is  not  bread, 


THE    GOSPEL    OFFER.  39 

and  your  labor  for  that  which  satisfieth  not  ?     3.  Incline  your 
ear,  and  come  unto  me ;  hear,  and  your  soul  shall  live. 

3.  The  Gospel  offer  is  not  a  declaration  to  any 
individual  sinner,  that  his  particular  name  is  in  the 
Book  of  Life ;  it  is  not  immediately  founded  upon 
the  decree  of  election,  but  upon  the  commandment 
of  God,  authorizing  the  minister  of  the  gospel  to 
offer  Christ  and  all  his  benefits  to  sinners,  as  such, 
however  aggravated  their  crimes  may  have  been, 
accompanied  with  information  that  every  one  who 
accepts  the  offer  shall  be  saved. 

Deut.  xxix.  29.  The  secret  things  belong  unto  the  Lord  our 
God  ;  but  those  things  which  are  revealed  belong  unto  us. 
Mark  xvi.  15.  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature.  Acts  ii.  22.  Ye  men  of  Israel,  hear  these 
words  ;  Jesus  of  Nazareth  —  23.  Him  ye  have  taken,  and  by 
wicked  hands  have  crucified  and  slain.  38.  Repent,  and  be 
baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the 
remission  of  sins ;  39.  For  the  promise  is  unto  you  and  to 
your  children.  40.  Save  yourselves  fi-om  this  untoward  gen- 
eration. Mark  xvi.  16.  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized 
shall  be  saved. 

4.  Preaching  the  Gospel  does  not  consist  in 
promising  salvation  to  all  who  hear  it,  or  in  afiirm- 
ing  that  Christ  has  redeemed  each  of  them  ;  but 
in  a  free  and  full  offer  of  a  Saviour  to  every  indi- 
vidual, declaring  that  he  who  believeth  shall  be 
saved,  and  he  who  believeth  not  shall  be  damned  ; 
there  is  no  inconsistency  between  the  doctrine  of 
particular  redemption  and  an  unlimited  Gospel 
offer. 


40  THE    GOSPEL    OFFEll. 

John  X.  15.  I  lay  down  my  life  for  the  sheep.  26.  But  ye 
believe  not  because  ye  are  not  of  my  sheep.  37.  If  I  do  not 
the  works  of  my  Father,  believe  me  not ;  38.  But  if  I  do, 
though  you  believe  not  me,  believe  the  works,  that  ye  may 
know  and  believe  that  the  Father  is  in  me  and  I  in  him. 
Matt.  xxii.  4.  All  things  are  ready,  come  unto  the  marriage. 
12.  How  camest  thou  in  hither,  not  having  a  wedding  gar- 
ment ?  11.  For  many  are  called,  but  few  are  chosen.  John 
iii.  36.  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life  ;  and 
he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life ;  but  the  wrath 
of  God  abideth  on  him.  Rev.  xiv.  4.  These  were  redeemed 
from  among  men.  Mark  xvi.  15.  Preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature. 

5.  Every  assertion  contained  in  the  Gospel  is 
true,  independently  of  man's  works  or  faith,  and 
every  promise  of  the  Gospel  shall  be  fulfilled, 
because  God  is  true ;  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise 
depends  on  Christ's  righteousness  as  the  only  con- 
dition, and  all  the  blessings  promised  shall  be  dis- 
tributed precisely  in  the  order  and  connection  in 
which  the  promises  are  made,  to  all  for  whom  Christ 
suffered,  and  upon  whom  he  bestows  saving  faith. 

Ps.  xxxiii.  4.  For  the  word  of  the  Lord  is  right ;  and  all  his 
works  are  done  in  truth.  Heb.  x.  23.  He  is  faithful  that  prom- 
ised. Chap.  ix.  15.  And  for  this  cause  he  is  the  Mediator 
of  the  new  testament,  that  by  means  of  death,  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  transgressions  that  were  under  the  first  testament, 
they  which  are  called  might  receive  the  promise  of  eternal 
inheritance.  Joshua  xxi.  45.  There  failed  not  aught  of  any 
good  thing  which  the  Lord  had  spoken  unto  the  house  of 
Israel :  all  came  to  pass. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them : 


REGENERATION.  41 

1.  "  That  the  Gospel  is  a  new  and  more  easy 
Law,  which,  accommodated  to  human  depravity, 
promises  salvation,  upon  condition  of  faith  and 
repentance,  as  constituting  the  proper  title  to  its 
blessings. 

2.  "  That  eternal  life  is  promised  to  any  sinner, 
without  respect  to  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

3.  "  That  the  Gospel  is  not  to  be  preached  to 
sinners,  as  such. 

4.  "  That  the  Gospel  offer  consists  in  declaring 
to  sinners,  that  Christ  has  redeemed  each  of  them 
in  particular. 

5.  "  That  the  unlimited  offer  of  the  Gospel  is 
inconsistent  with  the  doctrine  of  particular  redemp- 
tion." 


CHAPTER  XIT. 

OF  REGENERATION. 


1.  The  effectual  application  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  necessary  to  render  any  sinner  a  partaker  of  the 
spiritual  blessings  purchased  by  Christ. 

Rom.  viii.  2.  The  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life,  in  Christ  Jesus, 
hath  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death.  9.  Now 
if  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his.  1 
Cor.  ii.  14.  But  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of 
the  Spirit  of  God. 

2.  The  Holy  Spirit  applies  the  benefits  of  redemp- 
tion to  all  the  Elect  of  God,  renewing  the  soul  after 


42  REGENERATION. 

the  image  of  God,  enlightening  the  understanding, 
and  directino;  the  affections  of  the  heart  to  God  in 
Christ  Jesus. 

1  Cor.  ii.  10.  But  God  hath  revealed  them  unto  us  by  his 
Spirit.  John  xiv.  26.  The  Holy  Ghost  whom  the  Father  will 
send  in  my  name,  he  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all 
things  to  your  remembrance.  Rom.  viii.  6.  To  be  spiritually 
minded  is  life  and  peace. 

3.  Regeneration  is  the  infusion  of  a  new  prin- 
ciple of  life,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  on  account  of 
Christ's  atonement,  into  an  elect  soul,  previously 
dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins ;  in  order  to  enable 
the  sinner  to  embrace  the  gospel  offer  and  to 
become  united  to  Christ  by  faith. 

Tit.  iii.  4-7.  But  after  that  the  kindness  and  love  of  God 
our  Saviour  toward  man  appeared,  not  by  works  of  righteous- 
ness which  we  have  done,  but  according  to  his  mercy  he  saved 
us,  by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  renewing  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  which  he  shed  on  us  abundantly  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Saviour;  that  being  justified  by  his  grace,  we  should  be 
made  heirs  according  to  the  hope  of  eternal  life. 

4.  The  human  soul,  although  in  its  nature  an 
active  spirit,  is  absolutely  incapable  of  contributing 
to  its  own  regeneration  ;  but,  in  relation  to  this 
change,  is  as  passive  as  it  was  in  its  own  creation. 

John  iii.  3.  Except  a  man  be  born  again  he  cannot  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God.  Eph.  iv.  24.  The  new  man,  which 
after  God  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness.  John 
iii.  8.  So  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit.  Eph.  ii.  5. 
Even  when  we  were  dead  in  sins  hath  quickened  us,  together 


REGENERATION.  43 

with  Christ.     9.  Not  of  works,  lest  any  man  should  boast, 
10.  For  we  are  his  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus. 

5.  No  previous  discipline,  of  any  kind  whatever, 
can  so  prepare  the  sinful  soul  as  to  give  unto  it  any 
bias  toward  holiness ;  regeneration  is  supernatural 
and  instantaneous. 

James  i.  18.  Of  his  own  will  begat  he  us.  Prov.  xvi.  1. 
The  preparations  of  the  heart  in  man  are  from  the  Lord. 
John  i.  13.  Which  were  born  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of 
the  flesh,  nor  of  the  willof  man,  but  of  God. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors^  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "That  Regeneration  is  no  more  than  the 
influence  of  a  rational  argument  producing  moral 
suasion. 

2.  "  That  Regeneration  is  no  more  than  baptism 
by  water  rightly  administered. 

3.  "  That  any  preparatory  work  can  predispose 
the  soul  for  Regeneration. 

4.  "  That  Regeneration  is  not  a  blessing  of  the 
covenant  of  grace,  purchased  by  Christ. 

5.  "  That  the  soul  is  active  in  its  own  Regener- 
ation. 

6.  "That  the'  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
Regeneration  is  dependent  upon  the  exercise  of 
man's  free  will." 


44  FAITH. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

OF  FAITH. 

1.  God  hath  purposed  that  union  with  Christ 
in  his  righteousness  should  be  established  through 
Faith.  The  Redeemer  hath  provided  by  his  death 
for  having  the  grace  of  Faith  bestowed  upon  the 
Elect,  in  order  to  unite  them  to  him ;  and  the  Holy 
Spirit,  accordingly,  regenerates  each  of  Christ's 
ransomed  ones,  enabling  them  to  receive  Jesus 
Christ  by  Faith,  as  their  public  Head  and  only 
Saviour. 

Rom.  iii.  25.  Whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation 
through  foith  in  his  blood.  26.  That  he  might  be  just,  and 
the  justifier  of  him  which  believeth.  Phil.  i.  29.  Unto  you 
it  is  given  in  the  behalf  of  Christ  —  to  believe  on  him.  Acts 
xiii.  48.  And  as  many  as  were  ordained  to  eternal  life  believed. 
2  Cor.  ii.  13.  Having  the  same  spirit  of  faith  —  we  also  believe. 

2.  Faith  is  the  first  and  immediate  act  of  the 
regenerate  soul,  under  the  powerful  influence  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  embracing  Christ  as  offered  by 
God  in  the  gospel  to  sinners. 

John  i.  12.  But  as  many  as  received  him  —  even  to  them 
that  believe  on  his  name.  13.  Which  were  born  —  of  God. 
Eph.  ii.  5.  When  we  were  dead  in  sins,  hath  quickened  us 
together  with  Christ.  8.  For  by  grace  ye  are  saved  through 
faith.  1  Cor.  xii.  13.  For  by  one  spirit  are  we  all  baptized 
into  one  body.  Gal.  iii.  26.  For  ye  are  all  the  children  of  God 
by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  1  John  iii.  23.  And  this  is  his  com- 
mandment, that  we  should  believe  on  the  name  of  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ.     Zech.  xii.  10.  And  I  will  pour  upon  the  house 


FAITH.  45 

of  David  the  Spirit  of  grace,  and  they  shall  look  upon  me 
whom  they  have  pierced,  and  mourn. 

3.  The  infinite  sufficiency  of  Christ  to  save,  the 
freeness  of  the  gospel  offer,  the  unlimited  extent 
of  the  invitation  to  come  to  him  for  salvation,  the 
authority  of  God  commanding  all  to  receive  him, 
and  the  infallible  promise  of  salvation  to  as  many 
as  do  receive  him,  constitute  the  proper  ground  of 
Faith. 

Heb.  vii.  25.  Wherefore  he  is  able  also  to  save  them  to  the 
uttei-most  that  come  unto  God  by  him.  Is.  Iv.  1.  Come  ye, 
buy  and  eat  —  without  money  and  without  price.  7.  Let 
the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his 
thoughts ;  and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord,  and  he  wall  have 
mercy  upon  him.  Rev.  xxii.  17.  And  whosoever  will,  let  him 
take  the  w^ater  of  life  freely.  1  John  iii.  23.  This  is  his  com- 
mandment, that  we  should  believe.  Chap.  v.  13.  These  things 
have  I  written  unto  you  that  believe,  that  ye  might  know  that 
ye  have  eternal  life. 

4.  The  proposition  to  which  God  demands  the 
sinner's  assent  is  true,  independently  of  man's  belief 
It  is  not*  that  he  shall  have  eternal  life  in  Christ ; 
but  that  Christ  and  salvation  are  freely  offered  to 
him.  True  faith,  however,  although  it  implies  ne- 
cessarily an  assent  to  this  proposition,  chiefly  con- 
sists in  embracing  the  gospel  offer,  and  thus  appro- 
priating the  salvation  which  it  contains. 

John  viii.  26.  He  that  sent  me  is  true;  and  I  speak  to  the 
world  those  things  which  I  have  heard  of  him.  46.  And  if  I 
say  the  truth,  why  do  ye  not  believe  me?  Chap.  vi.  64.  But 
there  are  some  of  you  that  beUeve  not.    For  Jesus  knew  from 


46  FAITH. 

the  beginning  who  they  were  that  believed  not.  Chap.  vii. 
37,  38.  Jesus  stood  and  cried,  saying,  If  any  man  thirst,  let 
him  come  unto  me  and  drink.  He  that  befleveth  on  me,  as 
the  Scripture  hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow  rivers  of 
living  water.  Chap.  vi.  69.  And  we  believe  and  are  sure  that 
thou  art  that  Christ  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  Rom.  x.  10. 
With  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness.  John  vi. 
53.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of 
the  Son  of  man  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you. 

5.  Every  true  believer  shall  most  certainly  be 
saved,  but  an  assurance  that  he  is  in  a  state  of 
grace,  and  shall  be  saved,  is  not  inseparably  con- 
nected with  true  Faith  in  every  believer's  heart; 
nevertheless  every  Christian  may,  in  the  proper  use 
of  means,  attain  to  it,  and  it  is  his  duty  to  give  all 
dilio-ence  to  make  his  callino;  and  election  sure. 

Rom.  viii.  1.  There  is,  therefore,  now  no  condemnation  to 
them  which  ai^  in  Christ  Jesus.  Ps.  Ixxvi.  6-10.  I  commune 
with  mine  own  heart.  Will  the  Lord  cast  ofi"  for  ever?  Doth 
his  promise  fail  for  evermore  ?  Hath  he  in  anger  shut  up  his 
tender  mercies  ?  And  I  said,  This  is  my  infirmity.  2  Pet.  i. 
10.  Wherefore,  the  rather,  brethren,  give  diligence  to  make 
your  calling  and  election  sure. 

6.  It  is  dangerous  for  sinners  to  persuade  them- 
selves that  they  are  interested  savingly  in  the  prom- 
ises of  the  gospel  without  solid  ground  for  their 
assurance.  No  man  may  conclude  that  he  is  in  a 
gracious  state  and  shall  be  saved,  without  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  marks  of  grace  described  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, a  consciousness  that  he  possesses  these  marks, 
and  an  application  of  the  appropriate  promises  in 


FAITH.  47 

which  God   declares   that   such   persons   shall   be 

saved. 

Jas.  ii.  20.  But  wilt  thou  know,  O  vain  man,  that  faith  with- 
out works  is  dead  ?  2  Cor.xiii.  5.  Examine  yourselves  whether 
ye  be  in  the  faith,  prove  your  own  selves :  Know  ye  not  your 
own  selves,  how  that  Jesus  Christ  is  in  you,  except  ye  be 
reprobates  ?  1  John  iv.  13.  Hereby  know  we  that  we  dwell 
in  him,  and  he  in  us,  because  he  hath  given  us  of  his  Spirit. 
Rom.  viii.  38,  39.  For  I  am  persuaded,  that  neither  death,  nor 
life,  nor  angels,  norprincipahties,  nor  powers,  nor  things  pres- 
ent, nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other 
creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God, 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. 

7.  The  want  of  this  assurance  evidences  a  crim- 
inal neglect  of  self-examination  and  a  deficiency  in 
spirituality,  but  is  not  unbelief,  unless  it  arises 
from  doubting  God's  promise  of  perseverance  in 
grace :  unbelief  consists  in  rejecting  the  testimony 
and  'offer  of  God,  not  in  doubting  of  the  exercise 
of  a  man's  own  heart:  the  testimony  of  God  is 
infallible,  but  the  testimony  of  the  soul  respecting 
its  own  state  is  often  doubtful  and  false. 

2  Cor.  xiii.  5.  Know  ye  not  your  own  selves,  how  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  in  you?  2  Pet.  i.  8,  9,  10.  For  if  these  things  be  in 
you,  and  abound,  they  make  you  that  ye  shall  neither  be  bar- 
ren nor  unfruitful  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
But  he  that  lacketh  these  things  is  blind,  and  hath  forgotten 
that  he  was  purged  from  his  old  sins.  Wherefore,  the  rather, 
brethren,  give  diligence  to  make  your  calling  and  election  sure. 
Is.  1.  10.  Who  is  among  you  that  feareth  the  Lord,  that  obey- 
eth  the  voice  of  his  servant,  that  walketh  in  darkness  and  hath 
no  light  ?  Let  him  trust  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  stay 
upon  his  God.    Rom.  iv.  20, 21.  He  staggered  not  at  the  prom- 


48  FAITH. 

ise  of  God  through  unbelief —  being  fully  persuaded  that  what 
he  had  promised  he  was  able  also  to  perform.  Psalm  Ixxxviii. 
14.  Lord,  why  castest  thou  off  my  soul  ?  Why  hidest  thou 
thy  face  from  me?  15.  While  I  suffer  thy  terrors  I  am  dis- 
tracted. 16.  Thy  fierce  wrath  goeth  over  me.  Psalm  Ixxiii. 
13.  Verily  I  have  cleansed  my  heart  in  vain,  and  washed  my 
hands  in  innocency.  22.  So  foolish  was  I  and  ignorant.  23. 
Nevertheless,  I  am  continually  with  thee.  25.  Whom  have 
I  in  heaven  but  thee  ?  and  there  is  none  upon  earth  that  I 
desire  besides  thee. 

8.  The  strength  of  Faith  is  ascertained  by  its 
fruits  — -  the  love,  the  zeal,  the  holiness,  the  faithful- 
ness it  produces  ;  and  not  by  the  confidence  which  a 
man  may  have  of  his  being  in  a  safe  state.  We 
often  perceive  those  who  are  truly  pious  and  faith- 
ful, possessed  with  doubts  and  fears  respecting  them- 
selves, while  the  careless,  the  presumptive,  and  the 
enthusiastic,  appear  full  of  assurance  that  they  are 
the  favorites  of  heaven. 

Matt.  XV.  22.  And  behold  a  woman  of  Canaan  cried  unto 
him,  saying.  Have  mercy  on  me,  O  Lord,  thou  Son  of  David. 
23.  And  he  answered  her  not.  25.  Then  came  she  and  wor- 
shipped him,  saying,  Lord,  help  me.  26.  But  he  answered  and 
said,  It  is  not  meet  to  take  the  children's  bread  and  cast  it  to 
dogs.  27.  And  she  said.  Truth,  Lord :  Yet  the  dogs  eat  of 
the  crumbs  which  fall  from  their  masters'  table.  28.  Then 
answered  Jesus  and  said  unto  her,  O  woman,  great  is  thy  faith. 
Is.  1.  11.  Behold  all  ye  that  kindle  a  fire,  that  compass  your- 
selves about  with  sparks  ;  walk  in  the  light  of  your  fire,  and 
in  the  sparks  that  ye  have  kindled  :  this  shall  ye  have  of  mine 
hand,  ye  shall  lie  down  in  sorrow.  Matt.  vii.  22.  Many  will 
say  to  me  in  that  day.  Lord,  Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in 
thy  name  ?     23.  And  then  will  I  profess  unto  them,  I  never 


FAITH.  49 

knew  you.  James  ii.  18.  Show  me  thy  faith  without  thy 
works,  and  I  will  show  thee  my  faith  by  my  works.  Heb.  ii. 
14.  Forasmuch  then  as  the  children  are  partakers  of  flesh  and 
blood,  he  also  himself  likewise  took  part  of  the  same.  15. 
And  deliver  them  who  through  fear  of  death  were  all  their 
lifetime  subject  to  bondage. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them : 

1.  "  That  an  unregenerate  man  oan  believe  to 
the  saving  of  his  soul. 

2.  "  That  any  unbeliever  shall  be  saved. 

3.  "  That  Faith  is  no  more  than  a  rational  con- 
viction of  the  authenticity  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures. 

4.  "  That  Faith  is  no  more  than  the  assent  of 
the  human  mind  to  the  truth  of  the  speculative 
doctrines  of  the  Scriptures. 

5.  "  That  Faith  consists  in  a  man's  persuading 
himself  that  he  has  been  elected  to  everlasting  life. 

6.  "That  Faith  consists  in  a  man's  persuading 
himself  that  he  has  been  redeemed  by  the  death 
of  Christ. 

7.  "That  the  appropriation  of  Christ,  as  he  is 
offered  in  the  gospel,  is  not  essential  to  faith. 

8.  "  That  a  full  assurance  of  salvation  is  insepa- 
rably connected  with  saving  faith,  so  that  a  believer 
cannot  be  without  it. 

9.  "That  fear  respecting   the  piety  of  a  man's 

own  heart  is  the  sin  of  unbelief,  or  the  samQ  with 

rejecting   the    testimony   of  God    concerning    his 

Son." 

4 


50  JUSTIFICATION. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

OF  JUSTIFICATION. 

1.  God  did  from  eternity  decree  to  justify  the 
Elect  in  Christ ;  and  Christ  did  in  the  fulness  of 
time  die  for  their  sins,  and  rise  again  for  their  justi- 
fication ;  nevertheless,  they  are  not  justified  until 
they  are  united  to  Christ  by  faith. 

Rom.  viii.  30.  Moreover,  whom  lie  did  predestinate,  them 
lie  also  called ;  and  whom  he  called,  them  he  also  justified. 
Chap.  iv.  25.  Who  was  delivered  for  our  offences,  and  raised 
again  for  our  justification.  Chap.  iii.  26.  That  he  might  be 
just  and  the  justifier  of  him  which  believeth  in  Jesus.  28. 
Therefore  we  conclude  that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith. 

2.  Every  one  of  God's  Elect  is,  in  the  time  ap- 
pointed in  the  council  of  peace,  apprehended  of 
Christ  by  his  Spirit,  as  one  of  his  redeemed  children; 
is  regenerated,  and  thereby  enabled  to  embrace  the 
Saviour ;  and  thus  through  faith  becomes  one  with 
Christ  in  the  covenant  of  grace,  and  acknowledging 
Jesus  as  his  head  and  representative,  is  justified 
from  all  his  sins. 

John  vi.  37.  All  that  the  Father  giveth  me  shall  come  unto 
me ;  and  him  that  cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out. 
l^hil.  iii.  9.  The  righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith.  12. 
That  for  which  also  I  am  apprehended  of  Christ  Jesus.  John 
i.  12.  Them  that  believe  in  his  name.  13.  AVhich  were  born, 
not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of 
man,  but  of  God.  Eph.  ii.  5.  Even  when  we  were  dead  in 
sins,  hath  quickened  us  together  with  Christ.  8.  By  grace  ye 
are  saved  through  faith. 


JUSTIFICATION.  51 

3.  Justification  does  not  make  a  person  virtu- 
ous any  more  than  condemnation  makes  a  person 
criminal;  it  is  a  legal  sentence,  declaring  the  sin- 
ner acquitted  from  the  guilt  of  sin,  although  the 
sinner,  personally  considered,  is  ungodly;  yet  being 
united  to  Christ,  he  has  a  perfect  righteousness 
imputed  to  him,  and  thus,  by  an  act  of  God's  free 
grace,  all  his  sins  are  pardoned,  and  he  is  received, 
as  righteous  in  Christ  the  head,  to  the  full  favor 
of  God. 

Rom.  viii.  38.  Who  shall  lay  anything  to  the  charge  of 
God's  elect  ?  It  is  God  that  justifieth.  Chap.  iv.  5.  Belie veth 
on  him  that  justifieth  the  ungodly.  Chap.  iii.  22.  The  right- 
eousness of  God  which  is  by  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  unto  all, 
and  upon  all  that  believe.  Chap.  iv.  6.  Even  as  David  also 
describeth  the  blessedness  of  the  man  unto  Avhom  God 
imputeth  righteousness  without  works,  7.  saying.  Blessed  are 
they  whose  iniquities  are  forgiven  and  whose  sins  are  covered. 

4.  No  sinner  can  be  justified  in  the  sight  of 
God  on  account  of  any  merit  in  his  faith  or  in  his 
works  ;  but  the  believer,  having  Christ's  perfect 
righteousness  imputed  to  him,  is  perfectly  justified 
at  once ;  this  sentence,  declaring  him  righteous  in 
the  surety,  can  never  be  reversed,  all  his  future 
transactions  notwithstanding. 

Rom.  iv.  4.  Now  to  him  that  worketh  is  the  reward  not 
reckoned  of  grace  but  of  debt.  5.  But  to  him  that  worketh 
not,  but  believeth  on  him  that  justifieth  the  ungodly,  his  faith 
is  counted  for  righteousness.  6.  Unto  whom  God  imputeth 
righteousness  without  works.  8.  Blessed  is  the  man  to  whom 
the  Lord  will  not  impute  sin.     Chap.  y.  8.  While  we  were 


52  JUSTinCATION. 

yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us.  9.  Much  more  then  being 
now  justified  by  his  blood,  we  shall  be  saved.  Chap.  viii.  1 
There  is  therefore  now  no  condemnation  to  them  which  are 
in  Christ  Jesus. 

5.  The  Redeemer  has  purchased  a  perfect  right 
to  the  justification  of  every  individual  for  whom 
he  became  surety  ;  possessing  this  right,  he  unites 
the  sinner  to  himself  through  faith,  in  order  to 
have  him  justified  ;  the  elect  sinner,  embracing  the 
Saviour  by  faith,  has  then,  and  not  till  then,  in  his 
own  possession  a  full  and  perfect  title  to  the  pardon 
of  all  his  sins,  to  be  received  into  the  favor  of  God, 
to  be  delivered  from  the  law  as  a  covenant  of  works, 
and  to  be  sanctified  and  glorified. 

Rom.  iv.  25.  Who  was  delivered  for  our  offences,  and  raised 
again  for  our  justification.  Phil.  i.  29.  For  unto  you  it  is 
given  in  the  behalf  of  Christ  —  to  believe  in  him.  Heb.  xii.  2. 
Looking  unto  Jesus,  the  author  and  the  finisher  of  our  faith. 
Rom.  iv.  24.  But  for  us  also,  to  whom  it  shall  be  imputed  if 
we  believe.  John  iii.  18.  But  he  that  believeth  not  is  con- 
demned already.     36.  The  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him. 

6.  The  union  of  a  believer  with  Christ  is  not 
merely  an  agreement  with  the  principles  of  reli- 
gion and  a  love  to  the  Saviour,  which  may  be 
termed  a  union  of  sentiment  and  affection,  but  consists 
principally  in  the  oneness  of  a  person  with  his  rep- 
resentative :  it  is  upon  the  principle  of  this  repre- 
sentative, oneness,  that  the  believer  is  in  law  perfectly 
entitled  to  salvation. 

1  Cor.  xii.  27.  Now  ye  are  the  body  of  Christ  and  members 
in  particular.  Gal.  iii.  28.  For  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus. 
Chap.  ii.  20.  I  am  crucified  with  Christ :  nevertheless  I  live ; 


JUSTIFICATION.  63 

yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me.  Rom.  v.  18.  Therefore  as 
by  the  offence  of  one,  judgment  came  upon  all  men  to  con- 
demnation ;  even  so  by  the  righteousness  of  one,  the  free  gift 
came  upon  all  men  unto  justification  of  life.  2  Cor.  v.  21.  For 
he  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us  who  knew  no  sin,  that  we 
miojht  be  made  the  riohteousness  of  God  in  him. 

7.  Those  who  are  justified  may  sometimes  suffer 
from  doubts  and  fears,  because  their  sanctification 
is  not  in  this  life  complete ;  but  they  cannot  fall 
into  condemnation ;  it  would  be  an  act  of  distribu- 
tive injustice  in  God  to  condemn  a  justified  person 
to  eternal  misery  ;  and  yet  the  grace  of  God  reigns, 
through  righteousness,  in  our  justification,  inasmuch 
as  he  established  the  covenant  of  grace,  accepted  a 
substitute  for  our  sins,  provided  his  own  beloved 
Son  as  that  substitute,  and  bestowed  upon  us  the 
grace  o^ faith  in  Christ  for  justification. 

Psalm  xliii.  5.  Why  art  thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul  ?  And 
why  art  thou  disquieted  within  me?  John  v.  24.  He  that 
heareth  my  word,  and  believeth  on  him  that  sent  me,  hath 
everlasting  life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation.  Rom. 
viii.  34.  Who  is  he  that  condemneth  ?  It  is  Christ  that  died. 
Chap.  iii.  24.  Being  justified  freely  by  his  grace  through  the 
redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  25.  Whom  God  hath 
set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  his  blood,  to 
declare  his  rio-hteousuess  throusrh  the  remission  of  sins.  26. 
That  he  might  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  which  believeth 
in  Jesus. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "  That  any  of  Adam's  race  is  justified  from 
eternity. 


54  ADOPTION. 

2.  "  That  men  are  justified  before  God,  either 
in  whole  or  in  part,  on  account  of  a  righteousness 
wrought  in  them,  or  works  done  by  them. 

3.  "  That  a  man  may  be  justified  while  an  un- 
believer. 

4.  "That  faith  itself  is  the  ground  of  our  jus- 
tification. 

5.  "  That  there  is  any  inconsistency  between  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  imputed  righteousness 
and  divine  grace. 

6.  "  That  Justification  is  incomplete  in  the  pres- 
ent life. 

7.  "  That  it  would  be  no  act  of  distributive  in- 
justice to  punish  believers  eternally,  Christ's  atone- 
ment and  their  own  faith  notwithstanding" 


CHAPTER  XY. 

OF  ADOPTION. 


1.  All  those  that  are  justified,  God  is  graciously 
pleased,  in  and  through  his  only  Son  Jesus  Christ, 
to  take  into  his  family,  and  bless  with  the  adoption 
of  sons  ;  by  which  they  are  admitted  to  an  intimacy 
with  God,  have  his  name  put  upon  them,  and 
receive  the  spirit  of  adoption.  They  have  a  special 
interest  in  God  as  a  gracious  Father,  and  enjoy 
liberty  of  access  to  the  throne  of  grace  with  bold- 
ness.    They  are  sealed  to  the  day  of  redemption, 


ADOPTION.  55 

and  made  partakers  of  the  various  privileges  of 
God's  children  here,  and  their  inheritance  hereafter. 

1  John  iii.  1.  Behold  what  manner  of  love  the  Father  hath 
bestowed  upon  us,  that  we  should  be  called  the  sons  of  God ! 
therefore  the  world  knoweth  us  not,  because  it  knew  him  not. 
Gal.  iv.  4,  5,  6.  But  when  the  fulness  of  the  time  was  come, 
God  sent  forth  his  Son,  made  of  a  woman,  made  under  the 
law,  to  redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law,  that  we  might 
receive  the  adoption  of  sons.  And  because  ye  are  sons,  God 
hath  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  your  hearts,  crying, 
Abba,  Father.  Rev.  iii.  12.  And  I  will  write  upon  him  my 
new  name.  2  Cor.  vi.  18.  And  will  be  a  Father  unto  you, 
and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord 
Almighty.  Eph.  i.  13,  14.  In  which  ye  also  trusted,  after  that 
ye  heard  the  word  of  truth,  the  gospel  of  your  salvation  :  in 
whom  also,  after  that  ye  believed,  ye  were  sealed  with  that 
Holy  Spirit  of  promise,  which  is  the  earnest  of  our  inheritance 
until  the  redemption  of  the  purchased  possession,  unto  the 
praise  of  his  glory. 

2.  All  the  Elect,  and  they  only,  are,  in  their 
respective  times  of  love,  adopted  into  the  family 
of  God.  The  adoption  of  saints  under  the  Old 
Testament  dispensation,  was  as  perfect  as  that 
under  the  New.  Thej^  were,  however,  treated  as 
children  under  age.  Still  they  w^ere  children. 
Under  the  New  Testament,  their  service  is  more 
spiritual  and  reasonable.  God  bestows  his  Spirit 
more  abundantly — gives  more  knowledge  of,  and 
intimacy  with  himself —  admits  equal  access  from 
every  part  of  the  world  —  allows  greater  boldness 
in  approaching  him,  and  calls  to  more  direct  and 
immediate  views  of  the  spiritual  inheritance. 


56  ADOPTION. 

Eph.  i.  5.  Having  predestinated  us  unto  the  adoption  of 
children  by  Jesus  Christ  to  himself j  according  to  the  good 
pleasure  of  his  will.  Is.  Ixiv.  8.  But  now,  O  Lord,  thou  art 
our  Father.  Gal.  iv.  1-3.  Now  I  say.  That  the  heir,  as  long 
as  he  is  a  child,  differeth  nothing  from  a  servant,  though  he 
be  lord  of  all ;  but  he  is  under  tutors  and  governors  until  the 
time  appointed  of  the  father.  Even  so  we,  Avhen  we  wei-e 
children,  were  in  bondage  under  the  elements  of  the  world. 
Heb.  vii.  19.  For  the  law  made  nothing  perfect,  but  the  bring- 
ing in  of  a  better  hope  did ;  by  the  which  we  draw  nigh  unto 
God.  Rom.  xii.  1.  I  beseech  you,  therefore,  brethren,  by  the 
mercies  of  God,  that  ye  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice, 
holy,  acceptable  unto  God,  which  is  your  reasonable  service. 
Psalm  Ixxii.  17.  Men  shall  be  blessed  in  him:  all  nations 
shall  call  him  blessed.  2  Cor.  iii.  18.  But  we  all,  with  open 
face  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed 
into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord. 

3.  Justification  and  Adoption,  although  insepa- 
rably connected,  are  nevertheless  distinct  from  one 
another.  They  are  both  acts  of  God's  free  grace 
—  they  are  both  performed  at  once,  and  never  re- 
peated—  they  both  spring  from  the  mere  good 
pleasure  of  God, —  and  they  both  give  a  right  to 
all  the  privileges  of  the  sons  of  God.  Believers 
only  are  the  subjects  of  both,  and  the  instrumental 
cause  in  both  is  faith.  In  the  economy  of  salva- 
tion, while  they  both  are  the  act  of  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  yet  are  they  more  immedi- 
ately the  act  of  God  the  Father. 

Rev.  ii.  17.  To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of 
the  hidden  manna,  and  will  give  him  a  white  stone,  and  in 
the  stone  a  new  name  written,  which  no  man  knoweth,  saving 


ADOPTION.  57 

he  that  receiveth  it.  Tit.  iii.  7.  That  being  justified  by  his 
grace,  we  should  be  made  heirs  according  to  the  hope  of 
eternal  life.  Eph.  i.  5.  Having  predestinated  us  unto  the 
adoption  of  children  by  Jesus  Christ  to  himself,  according  to 
the  good  pleasure  of  his  will.  Jer.  iii.  19.  And  I  said.  Thou 
shalt  call  me,  My  father;  and  shalt  not  turn  away  from  me. 
Gal.  iii.  26.  For  ye  are  all  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Zech.  xiii.  9.  I  will  say,  It  is  my  people ;  and 
they  shall  say.  The  Lord  is  my  God. 

4.  Justification,  however,  has  respect  to  those 
who  were  guilty,  and  in  a  state  of  condemnation, 
but  whose  sins  are  now  pardoned,  and  their  persons 
accounted  righteous.  Adoption  respects  those  who 
were  in  a  state  of  alienation — strangers  to  God  and 
to  the  household  of  faith  —  of  the  family  of  Satan, 
and  heirs  of  hell :  but  who,  by  this  gracious  act, 
are  brought  near  unto  God  —  advanced  to  the  high 
honor  of  being  made  the  children  of  God,  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  the  Lord  Almighty —  have  a  right 
to  the  protection  of  his  providence  —  the  support 
of  his  bounty  —  the  ordinances  of  his  grace —  the 
enjoyment  of  his  fellowship,  and  a  right  to  God 
himself  They  are  placed  in  his  family,  and  are 
made  heirs  of  all  the  promises,  and  joint-heirs  with 
Jesus  Christ,  of  all  the  blessings  of  his  purchased 
redemption.  The  right  conferred  in  Justification,  is 
a  right  of  purchase,  sustainable  in  law  ;  but  that  con- 
ferred in  Adoption,  is  a  right  of  actual  inheritance. 

Eph.  ii.  3.  And  were  by  nature  the  children  of  wrath,  even 
as  others.  1  Cor.  vi.  11.  And  such  were  some  of  you :  but 
ye  are  washed,  but  ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified  in 


58  REPENTANCE. 

the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Sph'it  of  our  God. 
Eph.  ii.  12, 13.  Thai  at  that  time  ye  were  without  Christ, 
being  aUens  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  and  strangers 
from  the  covenants  of  promise,  having  no  hope,  and  without 
God  in  the  world :  But  now,  in  Christ  Jesus,  ye,  who  some- 
time were  far  off,  are  made  nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ.  Rom. 
viii.  17.  And  if  children,  then  heirs :  heirs  of  God,  and  joint- 
heirs  with  Christ ;  if  so  be  that  we  suffer  with  him,  that  we 
may  be  also  glorified  together.  Gal.  iv.  7.  Wherefore  thou 
art  no  more  a  servant,  but  a  son ;  and  if  a  son,  then  an  heir 
of  God  through  Christ.  Ps.  xvi.  5,  6.  The  Lord  is  the  portion 
of  mine  inheritance  and  of  my  cup  :  thou  maintainest  my  lot. 
The  lines  are  fallen  unto  me  in  pleasant  j^laces  ;  yea,  I  have  a 
goodly  heritage. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  error s,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them : 

1.  "  That  men  are  not,  by  nature,  estranged  from 
God,  and  of  the  family  of  Satan. 

2.  "That   visible    membership    constitutes    the 
adoption  of  sons. 

3.  "  That  Adoption  is  merited  by  the   creature, 
and  not  an  act  of  God's  free  grace. 

4.  "  That  ever  the  sonship,  conferred  in  Adop- 
tion, will  or  can  be  annulled  by  God." 


CHAPTER  XYI 

OF  REPENTANCE. 


1.   Believers,  although  in  justification  they  are 
delivered  from  the  precept  and  penalty  of  the  law 


REPENTANCE.  59 

as  a  covenantor  works,  are  still  indispensably  bound 
to  yield  a  perfect  obedience  to  all  God's  command- 
ments, as  the  rule  of  life  and  standard  of  holiness. 

Rom.  vi.  14.  For  ye  are  not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace. 
ChajD.  vii.  6.  But  now  we  are  delivered  from  the  law,  that 
being  dead  wherein  we  were  held,  that  we  should  serve  in 
newness  of  spirit.  Chap.  iii.  31.  Do  we  then  make  void  the 
law  through  faith  ?     God  forbid.     Yea,  we  establish  the  law. 

2.  Christians  are  not  entirely  free  from  innate 
corruption,  while  they  remain  in  this  world  ;  but  do 
daily  break  the  commandments  of  God  in  thought, 
word,  and  deed. 

Psalm  It.  3.  For  I  acknowledge  my  transgressions,  and  my 
sin  is  ever  before  me.  cxix.  96.  I  have  seen  an  end  of  all  per- 
fection:   but  thy  command  is  exceeding  broad.     Rom.  vii. 

23.  But  I  see  another  law  in  my  members,  warring  against 
the  law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into  captivity  to  the 
law  of  sin  which  is  in  my  members. 

3.  Divine  grace  influences  all  who  are  regener- 
ated and  justified  in  Christ,  to  hate  sin,  to  love  the 
law  of  God,  to  strive  against  indwelling  corruption, 
and,  pressing  after  perfect  holiness  of  heart  and 
of  life,  to  repent  of  all  their  transgressions. 

Rom.  viii.  2.  For  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus 
hath  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death.  Chap.  vii. 
22.  For  I  delight  in  the  law  of  God  after  the  inward  man. 

24.  Oh,  wretched  man  that  I  am !  who  shall  deliver  me  from 
the  body  of  this  death  ?  25.  I  thank  God,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord :  So  then  with  the  mind  I  myself  serve  the 
law  of  God. 


60  REPENTANCE. 

4.  Kepentance  is  a  saving  grace  wrought  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  all  believers.  They  are  enabled  to 
understand  and  lament  the  depravity  of  their  own 
hearts — they  mourn  on  account  of  their  weakness 
and  sinfulness  —  they  love  God,  and  esteem  it  hap- 
piness to  live  righteously  and  godly.  The  exercise 
of  the  grace  of  repentance  chiefly  consists  in  turn- 
ing from  sin  unto  God  through  Jesus  Christ,  with 
that  loathing  of  sin  and  thirsting  for  holiness,  which 
God  by  his  grace  produces  in  the  souls  of  the 
saints. 

Acts  xi.  18.  Then  hath  God  also  to  the  Gentiles  granted 
repentance  unto  life.  Jer.  xxxi.  19.  Surely  after  that  I  was 
turned  I  repented,  and  after  that  I  was  instructed  I  smote 
upon  my  thigh.  Ezek.  xxxvi.  31.  Then  shall  ye  remember 
your  own  e^dl  ways,  and  your  doings  that  were  not  good,  and 
shall  loathe  yourselves  in  your  own  sight,  for  your  iniquities 
and  for  your  abominations.  2  Cor.  vii.  11.  For  behold  this 
selfsame  thing,  that  ye  sorrowed  after  a  godly  sort,  what 
carefulness  it  wrought  in  you,  yea,  what  clearing  of  yourselves, 
yea,  what  indignation,  yea,  what  fear,  yea,  what  vehement 
desire,  yea,  what  zeal.  Jer.  xxxi.  18.  Turn  thou  me  and  I 
shall  be  turned,  for  thou  art  the  Lord  my  God. 

5.  Unconverted  sinners  may,  and  often  do,  ex- 
ercise a  natural  Repentance.  Considering  sin  in 
general  as  the  cause  of  misery,  and  particular  crimes 
as  procuring  dishonor,  or  pain,  or  loss,  they  are 
sorry  for  sin,  as  it  is  an  obstacle  to  the  happiness 
which  they  desire;  but  they  have  no  hatred  of  it 
as  the  opjDOsite  of  holiness,  or  as  dishonoring  to 
God. 


REPENTANCE.  61 

Matt,  xxvii.  8.  Then  Judas,  which  had  betrayed  him,  when 
he  saw  that  he  was  condemned,  repented  himself.  2  Cor.  vii. 
10.  For  godly  sorrow  worketh  repentance  to  salvation  not  to 
be  repented  of:  but  the  sorrow  of  the  world  worketh  death. 

6.  Evangelical  Repentance  implies  union  with 
Christ  and  true  faith,  but  is  not  the  ground  of 
pardon,  although  the  exercise  of  it  precedes  the 
joy  which  intimations  of  a  gracious  pardon  com- 
municate to  the  soul. 

Zech.  xii.  10.  And  they  shall  look  upon  me  whom  they  have 
pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn.  Eph.  i.  7.  In  whom  we  have 
redemption  through  his  blood,  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  Rom. 
iii.  28.  Therefore  we  conclude  that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith. 
Luke  X.  3.  Except  ye  repent  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish. 
Acts  iii.  19.  Repent  ye  therefore,  and  be  converted,  that  your 
sins  may  be  blotted  out,  when  the  times  of  refreshing  shall 
come  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  Psalm  li.  1.  Have 
mercy  upon  me,  O  God,  according  to  thy  loving-kindness.  8. 
Make  me  to  hear  joy  and  gladness ;  that  the  bones  which 
thou  hast  broken  may  rejoice.  12.  Restore  unto  me  the  joy 
of  thy  salvation. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them : 

•  1.  "That  a  believer  is  under  no  law  as  the  rule 
of  life. 

2.  "  That  a  saint  is  so  perfect  in  this  life  as  to 
have  no  sin  of  which  he  should  repent. 

3.  ''  That  Repentance  is  the  ground  of  pardon. 

4.  "  That  an  impenitent  man  should  believe  that 
his  sins  are  pardoned. 

5.  "  That  an  unbeliever  can  exercise  evangelical 
Repentance. 


62  SANCTIFICATION. 

6.   "  That  a  true  believer  can  be  destitute  of  the 
grace  of  Repentance." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

OF  SANCTIFICATION. 

1.  The  dignity  as  well  as  the  happiness  of  man, 
consists  in  the  equable  improvement  and  perfection 
of  all  his  powers  and  faculties,  and  in  contemplat- 
ing, loving,  serving,  and  enjoying  his  God. 

Rev.  iii.  17.  Thou  sayest,  I  am  rich,  and  increased  with 
goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing;  and  knowest  not  that  thou 
art  wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  bUnd,  and  naked. 
18.  I  counsel  thee  to  buy  of  me  gold  tried  in  the  fire,  that 
tliou  mayest  be  rich;  and  white  raiment,  that  thou  mayest 
be  clothed,  and  that  the  shame  of  thy  nakedness  do  not  ap- 
pear. 1  Cor.  xiii.  10.  But  when  that  wdiich  is  perfect  is  come, 
then  that  which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away.  Phil.  iii.  8. 
And  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord.  12.  Not  as  though  I 
had  already  attained,  either  w^ere  already  perfect.  14.  I  press 
toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in 
Christ  Jesus. 

2.  The  Holy  Spirit,  according  to  the  promise  of 
the  Father,  is  commissioned  by  Jesus  Christ,  the 
administrator  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  to  sanctify 
justified  sinners,  and  to  prepare  them  for  heaven. 

Luke  xxiv.  49.  Behold,  I  send  the  promise  of  my  Father 
upon  you.     John  xiv.  26.  But  the  Comforter,  which  is  the 


SANCTIFICATION.  63 

Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  shall  send  in  my  name,  he 
shall  teach  you  all  things.  Chap.  xv.  26.  But  when  the  Com- 
forter is  come  whom  I  will  send  unto  you  from  the  Father. 
Chap.  xvi.  13.  Howbeit,  when  he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come, 
he  will  guide  you  into  all  truth.  Col.  i.  12.  Giving  thanks 
unto  the  Father,  which  hath  made  us  meet  to  become  parta- 
kers of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light. 

3.  Sanctification  is  a  work  of  God's  grace,  in 
which  the  Elect  are,  through  the  agency  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  applying  the  spiritual  benefits  of 
Christ's  purchase,  renewed  in  the  whole  man  after 
the  image  of  God  ;  and  having  all  saving  graces 
put  into  their  hearts,  these  graces  are  exercised  and 
strengthened,  so  that  sanctified  persons  do  more 
and  more  die  unto  sin  and  live  unto  righteousness. 

1  Pet.  i.  2.  Elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God 
the  Father,  through  sanctifi cation  of  the  Spirit.  John  xvi.  15. 
All  things  that  the  Father  hath  are  mine ;  therefore  said  I, 
that  he  shall'  take  of  mine,  and  shall  sliow  it  unto  you.  Col. 
iii.  10.  And  have  put  on  the  new  man,  which  is  renewed  in 
knowledge  after  the  image  of  him  that  created  him.  John  i. 
16.  And  of  his  fulness  have  all  we  received,  and  grace  for 
grace.  Is.  xl.  31.  But  they  that  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall 
renew  their  strength.  Gal.  ii.  19,  20.  For  I  through  the  lav/ 
am  dead  to  the  laAv,  that  I  might  live  unto  God.  I  am  cruci- 
fied with  Christ:  nevertheless  I  live ;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ 
liveth  in  me :  and  the  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I  live 
by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  him- 
self for  me.  2  Cor.  iv.  16.  For  which  cause  we  faint  not, 
but  though  our  outward  man  perish,  yet  the  inward  man  is 
renewed  day  by  day. 

4.  The  moral  law  is  the  declaration  of  God's  will 
to  man,  binding  him  to  perpetual  and  perfect  con- 


64  SANCTIFICATION. 

formity  thereto,  both  in  disposition  and  behavior. 
Although  no  man,  since  the  fall,  can  attain  to  justi- 
fication or  life  by  the  law,  it  is  of  use  to  all  men,  to 
inform  them  of  the  holiness  of  God,  of  their  own 
duty,  of  the  perfection  of  Christ's  obedience  in  the 
room  of  sinners*  and  it  is  the  standard  of  Sanctifi- 
cation. 

James  iv.  12.  There  is  one  Lawgiver  who  is  able  to  save 
and  to  destroy.  Ps.  xix.  7.  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect. 
Heb.  iv.  12.  For  the  word  of  God  is  qiiicK  and  powerful,  and 
sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  piercing  even  to  the  di- 
viding asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  of  the  joints  and  mar- 
row, and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the 
heart.  Gal.  iii.  21.  For  if  there  had  been  a  law  given  which 
could  have  given  life,  verily  righteousness  should  have  been 
by  the  law.  Rom.  viii.  3.  For  what  the  law  could  not  do,  in 
that  it  was  weak  through  the  flesh.  Chap.  vii.  10.  And  the 
commandment  which  was  ordained  to  life,  I  found  to  be  unto 
death.  12.  Wherefore  the  law  is  holy,  and  the  command- 
ment holy,  and  just,  and  good.  1  Tim.  i.  8.  But  we  know 
that  the  law  is  good  if  a  man  use  it  lawfully.  1  John  v.  3. 
For  this  is  the  love  of  God,  that  Ave  keep  his  commandments, 
and  his  commandments  are  not  grievous.  Rom.  vii.  7.  Is  the 
law  sin?  God  forbid.  Nay,  I  had  not  known  sin  but  by  the 
law.  22.  For  I  delight  in  the  law  of  God  after  the  inward 
man. 

5.  Man,  before  the  fall,  was  upright  in  his  dispo- 
sition, and  able  to  keep  the  commandments ;  but  no 
unregenerate  sinner  can  do  anything  which  is  spir- 
itually good,  or  acceptable  to  God.  Nevertheless, 
all  men  are  under  obligation  to  yield  obedience  to 
the  divine  law  in  all  its  precepts  and  in  its  full  ex- 
tent ;  neither  does  the  total  depravity  of  the  sinner, 


SANCTIFICATION.  65 

nor  the  complete  justification  of  the  believer,  in 
any  degree  diminish  that  obligation. 

Eccles.  vii.  29.  God  hath  made  man  upright.  Gen.  i.  27. 
So  God  created  man  in  his  own  image.  Rom.  viii.  7,  8.  Be- 
cause the  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God;,  for  it  is  not 
subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be.  So  then, 
they  that  are  in  the  flesh  cannot  please  God.  Gal.  iii.  10.  For 
as  many  as  are  of  the  works  of  the  law,  are  under  the  curse, 
for  it  is  written.  Cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in 
all  things  which  are  written  in  the  book  of  tlie  law  to  do 
them.  Rom.  iii.  31.  Do  we  then  make  void  the  law  through 
faith?  God  forbid  :  Yea,  we  establish  the  law.  1  Cor.  ix.  21. 
Being  not  without  law  to  God,  but  under  the  law  to  Christ. 
Eccles.  xii.  13.  Let  us  hear  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  mat- 
ter :  Fear  God,  and  keep  his  commandments,  for  this  is  the 
whole  duty  of  man. 

6.  Good  works  are  performed  from  a  principle 
of  faith  and  love,  and  are  agreeable  to  the  divine 
law ;  they  are  acceptable  to  God  and  useful  to  man  ; 
but  they  have  no  merit,  neither  do  they  procure 
pardon  or  eternal  life.  They  are  necessary  in  the 
Christian  character  to  manifest  the  truth  of  grace 
in  the  soul,  to  strengthen  assurance,  to  edify  fellow 
Christians,  adorn  our  profession,  silence  adversaries, 
and  to  glorify  God  who  hath  created  us  in  Christ 
Jesus  unto  good  works. 

2  Cor.  ix.  8.  And  God  is  able  to  make  all  grace  abound 
toward  you ;  that  ye,  always  having  all  sufficiency  in  all 
things,  may  abound  to  every  good  work.  Gal.  v.  6.  Faith 
which  worketh  by  love.  Rom.  xiv.  18.  For  he  that  in  these 
things  serveth  Christ,  is  acceptable  to  God  and  approved  of 
men.  Luke  xvii.  10.  When  ye  shall  have  done  all  those 
5 


*66  SANCTIFICATION. 

things  which  are  commanded  you,  say,  "We  are  unprofitable 
servants  :  we  have  done  that  which  was  our  duty  to  do. 
Rom.  iii.  27.  Where  is  boasting  then  ?  It  is  excluded.  Eph. 
ii.  9.  Not  of  worlcs,  lest  any  man  should  boast.  James  ii.  20. 
Fiiitli  without  works  is  dead.  2  Pet.  i.  10.  Give  diligence  to 
make  your  calHng  and  election  sure;  for  if  ye  do  these  things, 
ye  shall  never  fall.  Matt.  v.  16.  Let  your  light  so  shine  before 
men  that  they  may  see  your  good  works,  and  glorify  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven.  Tit.  ii.  10.  That  they  may  adorn 
the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  in  all  things.  14.  A  peculiar 
people,  zealous  of  good  works. 

7.  Sanctification  is  inseparably  connected  with 
Justification ;  but  is  distinct  from  it.  By  Justifi- 
cation the  sinner  is  acquitted  from  condemnation  ; 
by  Sanctification  he  is  rendered  holy  and  prepared 
for  the  happiness  of  heaven.  Justification  is  com- 
plete at  once  and  equal  in  all  believers  ;  Sanctifica- 
tion is  neither  equal  in  all,  nor  perfect  in  any,  while 
in  this  life.  Nevertheless,  all  who  are  justified  shall 
be  completely  sanctified.  At  death,  the  soul,  sep- 
arated from  the  body,  is  made  perfect  in  holiness. 

2  Cor.  V.  17.  Therefore  if  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new 
creature.  Rom.  viii.  1.  There  is  therefore  now  no  condemna- 
tion to  them  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not  after 
the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit.  2  Thess.  ii.  13.  God  hath  from 
the  beginning  chosen  you  to  salvation  through  sanctification 
of  the  Spirit.  Job  i.  8.  Hast  thou  considered  my  servant  Job, 
that  there  is  none  like  him  on  the  earth  ?  Rom.  vii.  19.  For 
the  good  that  I  would,  I  do  not ;  but  the  evil  which  I  would 
not,  that  I  do.  21.  When  I  would  do  good,  evil  is  present 
with  me.  Phil.  i.  6.  Being  confident  of  this  very  thing,  that 
he  which  hath  begun  a  good  work  in  you,  will  perform  it  until 
the  day  of  Jesus  Christ.     Heb.  xii.23.  The  spirits  of  just  men 


SANCTIFICATION.  67 

made  perfect.  Eph.  v.  27.  A  glorious  church,  not  having 
spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing ;  but  that  it  should  be  holy 
and  without  blemish. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  error's,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "  That  Sanctification  is  not  necessary  to  the 
happiness  of  man. 

2.  "  That   Sanctification   is   not  a  supernatural 
work  of  God's  Holy  Spirit. 

3.  "That  any  man  can  will  or  effect  his   own 
Sanctification  w^ithout  divine  grace. 

4.  "That  Christians  by  their  good  works  may 
merit  or  procure  the  favor  of  God. 

5.  "  That  the  works  of  an  unregenerate  man  can 
be  acceptable  to  God. 

6.  "  That  believers  are  not  under  obligation  to 
love  and  obey  the  law  of  God  as  the  rule  of  duty. 

7.  "  That  good  works  are  necessary. 

8.  "  That  the  law  of  God  is  not  the  criterion 
of  Sanctification. 

9.  "  That  any  man  on  earth  is  completely  sanc- 
tified. 

10.  "  That  any  justified  person  shall  eventually 
fail  of  being  made  perfectly  holy  and  happy." 


^  68  PERSEVERANCE   IN   GRACE. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

OF  PERSEVERANCE  IN  GRACE. 

1.  Some  who  make  a  profession  of  religion  may 
afterwards  fall  into  carelessness,  contempt,  and  even 

'hatred  of  all  religion,  and  so  eternally  perish. 

1  John  ii.  19.  They  went  out  from  us,  but  they  were  not 
of  us.  Heb.  X.  38.  But  if  any  man  draw  back,  my  soul  shall 
have  no  pleasure  in  him.  39.  But  we  are  not  of  them  who 
draw  back  unto  perdition.  Matt.  xii.  45.  And  the  last  state 
of  that  man  is  worse  than  the  first. 

2.  True  Christians  may,  through  the  influence 
of  temptation,  pre  valency  of  corruption,  and  the 
neglect  of  the  means  of  grace,  be  left  in  God's 
holy  providence  to  fall  into  grievous  sins,  and  so 
incur  the  displeasure  of  God,  be  deprived  of  some 
measure  of  their  graces  and  comforts,  scandalize 
the  church,  and  bring  temporal  judgments  upon 
themselves. 

Matt.  xxvi.  72.  And  again  he  denied  with  an  oath,  I  do  not 
know  the  man.  Mieah  vii.  9.  I  will  bear  the  indignation  of 
the  Lord,  because  I  have  sinned  against  him.  Rom.  vii.  19. 
But  the  evil  which  I  would  not,  that  I  do.  Ps.  li.  8.  Make 
me  to  hear  joy  and  gladness,  that  the  bones  which  thou  hast 
broken  may  rejoice.  2  Sam.  xii.  14.  By  this  deed  thou  hast 
given  great  occasion  to  the  enemies  of  the  Lord  to  blasj^heme. 
Ps.  Ixxxix.  37.  Then  will  I  visit  their  transgressions  with  the 
rod,  and  their  iniquity  with  stripes. 

3.  All  those  who  have  faith  in  Christ  shall  be 
preserved  by  God  in  a  state  of  grace.     None  who 


PERSEVERANCE   IN    GRACE.  69 

have   ever  received  the  special  grace  of  God  can 
ever  lose  it  totally,  or  finally  perish. 

1  John  ii.  19.  For  if  they  had  been  of  us,  they  would  no 
doubt  have  continued  with  us.  Heb.  x.  38.  The  just  shall 
live  by  faith.  39.  That  believe  to  the  saving  of  the  soul. 
Phil.  i.  6.  Being  confident  of  this  very  thing,  that  he  which 
hath  begun  a  good  work  in  you,  will  perform  it  until  the  day 
of  Christ. 

4.  The  Perseverance  of  the  saints  is  not  secured 
by  their  own  industry,  vigilance,  and  strength ;  but 
by  the  unchangeableness  of  God's  purpose  and  love, 
the  perfection  of  Christ's  redemption,  and  the  preva- 
lency  of  his  intercession,  the  constant  efficacy  of  the 
Holy  Ghost's  influence  upon  the  soul,  and  the  sta- 
bility of  the  Covenant  of  Grace. 

1  Pet.  i.  5.  Who  are  kept  by  the  power  of  God,  through 
faith  unto  salvation.  Ps.  Ixxiii.  22.  So  foolish  was  I  and  igno- 
rant ;  I  was  as  a  beast  before  thee.  26.  My  flesh  and  my  heart 
faileth :  but  God  is  the  strength  of  my  heart  and  my  portion 
forever.  2  Tim.  ii.  19.  Nevertheless,  the  foundation  of  God 
standeth  sure,  having  this  seal.  The  Lord  knoweth  them  that 
are  his.  Jer.  xxxi.  3.  Yea,  I  have  loved  thee  with  an  ever- 
lasting love.  Heb.  x.  14.  By  one  offering  he  hath  perfected 
forever  them  that  are  sanctified.  Chap.  vii.  25.  Wherefore  he 
is  able  to  save  them  to  the  uttermost,  that  come  unto  God  by 
him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them. 
John  xiv.  16.  And  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give  you 
another  Comforter,  that  he  may  abide  with  you  forever.  Jer. 
xxxii.  40.  And  I  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant  with  them 
—  that  they  shall  not  depart  from  me.  2  Sam.  xxiii.  5.  He 
hath  made  with  me  an  everlasting  covenant,  ordered  in  all 
things  and  sure.  Rom.  viii.  38,  39.  For  I  am  persuaded,  that 
neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  pow- 


70  PERSEVERANCE    IN    GRACE. 

ers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor 
deptli,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us 
from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. 

5.  The  doctrine  of  Perseverance  excites  the 
saints  to  the  study  of  universal  obedience.  Per- 
suaded that  their  labor  shall  not  be  in  vain,  believ- 
ers become  steadfast,  immovable,  always  abounding 
in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  The  love  of  Christ  con- 
straineth  them;  and  the  faith  of  its  being  unchange- 
able strengthens  its  influence. 

1  Pet.  ii.  9.  But  ye  are  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priest- 
hood, an  holy  nation,  a  peculiar  people,  that  ye  should  show 
forth  the  praises  of  him  who  hath  called  you.  1  Cor.  xv.  58. 
Therefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  be  ye  steadfast,  unmovable, 
always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye 
know  that  your  labor  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  Eph.  iii.  17, 
18.  That  ye,  behig  rooted  and  grounded  in  love,  may  be  able 
to  comprehend  with  all  saints,  what  is  the  breadth,  and  length, 
and  depth,  and  height  — 19.  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ 
which  passeth  knowledge,  that  ye  might  be  filled  with  all  the 
fulness  of  God. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "  That  a  person  can,  after  conversion,  be  at 
any  time  totally  destitute  of  grace  or  piety. 

2.  "  That  a  saint  can  fall  away  from  grace,  and 
finally  perish. 

3.  "  That  if  the  saints  do  persevere,  it  is  on  ac- 
count of  their  own  resolution  and  strength. 

4.  "  That  the  doctrine  of  Perseverance  is  un- 
friendly to  holiness." 


STATE    OF   ]VIEN    AFTER   DEATH.  71 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

OF  THE  STATE  OF  MEN  AFTER  DEATH. 

1.  There  is  a  time  appointed  for  every  man  to 
leave  this  world.  The  immortal  soul,  leaving  the 
body  dead  upon  the  earth,  retains  his  consciousness, 
and  shall  immediately  be  rewarded  according  to 
his  works.  The  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect  are 
received  into  heaven,  and  the  souls  of  the  wricked 
are  cast  into  hell. 

Job  vii.  1.  Is  there  not  an  appointed  time  to  man  upon 
earth  ?  Eccles.  viii.  8.  There  is  no  man  that  hath  power  over 
the  spirit  to  retain  the  spirit :  neither  hath  he  power  in  the 
clay  of  death.  Chap.  xii.  7.  Then  shall  the  dust  return  to  the 
earth  as  it  was ;  and  the  spirit  shall  return  unto  God  who  gave 
it.  Gen.  ii.  7.  And  the  Lord  God  formed  man"  of  the  dust  of 
the  ground,  and*  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life, 
and  man  became  a  living  soul.  Matt.  x.  28.  And  fear  not 
them  which  kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul.  2 
Cor.  V.  10.  For  we  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment  seat 
of  Christ ;  that  every  one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  his 
body,  according  to  that  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or 
bad.  Luke  xxiii.  43.  And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Yerily  I  say 
unto  thee.  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise.  Heb. 
xii.  23.  And  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect.  2  Cor. 
V.  6.  Knowing  that  whilst  we  are  at  home  in  the  body,  we 
are  absent  from  the  Lord.  8.  And  willing  rather  to  be  absent 
from  the  body,  and  to  be  present  with  the  Lord.  Phil.  i.  23. 
Having  a  desire  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ ;  which  is 
far  better.  Matt.  x.  28.  Fear  him  which  is  able  to  destroy 
both  soul  and  body  in  hell.  Luke  xvi.  23.  And  in  hell  he 
lifted  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torments.  Acts  i.  21.  Judas  by 
transgression  fell,  that  he  might  go  to  his  own  place. 


72  STATE    OF   MEN    AFTER   DEATH. 

2.  When  all  the  generations  of  men  shall  have 
finished  their  appointed  time  on  earth,  there  shall 
be  a  resurrection  of  all  the  dead,  and  the  same 
bodies  which  were  buried  beino;  re-united  to  their 
respective  spirits,  these  and  all  who  shall  then  be 
alive  on  the  earth,  must  appear  before  the  judg- 
ment seat  of  Christ. 

Acts  xxiv.  15.  There  shall  be  a  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
both  of  the  just  and  unjust.  1  Cor.  xv.  42.  So  also  is  the  res- 
urrection of  the  dead ;  it  is  sown  in  corruption,  it  is  raised  in 
incorruption.  John  v.  28,  29.  Marvel  not  at  this  :  for  the  hour 
is  coming,  in  the  which  all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  his 
voice,  and  shall  come  forth ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto 
the  resurrection  of  life ;  and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto 
the  resurrection  of  damnation.  1  Thess.  iv.  17.  Then  we  which 
are  alive  and  remain,  sh:dl  be  caught  up  together  with  them 
in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air.  1  Cor.  xv.  51.  I 
shew  you  a  mystery :  we  shall  not  all  sleep,  but  we  shall  all 
be  changed.  52.  In  a  momei>t,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at 
the  last  trump  (for  the  trumj^et  shall  sound),  and  the  dead 
shall  be  raised  incorruptible,  and  we  shall  be  changed.  2 
Cor.  V.  10.  For  we  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment  seat 
of  Christ. 

3.  God-man,  the  Mediator,  shall  sit  in  judgment 
upon  all  mankind,  and  shall  publicly  pronounce 
sentence,  determining  their  final  state  according  to 
their  several  characters. 

Acts  xvii.  31.  Because  he  hath  appointed  a  day,  in  the  which 
he  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness,  by  that  man  whom 
he  hath  ordained.  John  v.  22.  For  the  Father  judgeth  no 
man,  but  hath  committed  all  judgment  unto  the  Son.  27. 
And  hath  giyen  him  authority  to  execute  judgment  also,  be- 


STATE    OF   MEN    AFTER    DEATH.  73 

cause  he  is  the  Son  of  man.  Matt.  xxv.  34.  Then  shall  the 
King  say  unto  them  on  his  right  hand,  Come,  ye  blessed  of 
my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world.  41.  Then  sliall  he  say  also  unto 
them  on  the  left  hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  ever- 
lasting fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels. 

4.  The  righteous  shall  be  declared  joint-heirs 
with  Christ  in  happiness  and  glory,  on  account  of 
the  merit  of  the  Redeemer,  in  whom  they  all  trust- 
ed. The  pious  thoughts,  words,  and  actions  of  be- 
lievers, while  they  were  on  the  earth,  shall  then 
be  sustained  as  the  evidence  of  their  union  with 
Christ,  and  of  their  gracious  state  :  they  shall  ac- 
cordingly be  glorified. 

1  John  iii.  2.  Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of  God ;  and  it 
doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be :  but  we  know  that 
when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  him ;  for  we  shall  see 
him  as  he  is.  Kom.  viii.  17.  And  if  children,  then  heirs; 
heirs  of  God,  and  joint-heirs  with  Jesus  Christ  —  that  we 
ma^  be  also  glorified  together.  1  Pet.  i.  5.  Who  are  kept,  by 
the  power  of  God,  through  faith  unto  salvation.  9.  Receiv- 
ing the  end  of  your  faith,  even  the  salvation  of  your  souls. 
22.  Seeing  ye  have  purified  your  souls  in  obeying  the  truth 
through  the  Spirit.  Matt.  xxv.  23.  Well  done,  good  and 
faithful  servant ;  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I 
will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things ;  enter  thou  into  the 
joy  of  thy  Lord. 

5.  God's  Elect,  being  publicly  recognized  in 
Christ,  shall  all  as  one  in  him,  their  divine  Head, 
join  in  the  sentence  pronounced  by  the  Mediator 
upon  all  the  wicked.  Punishment  shall  be  appor- 
tioned to  the  character  of  the  "ungodly  by  the  om- 


74  STATE  OF  MEN  AFTER  DEATH. 

niscient  and  just  Judge  ;  and  their  thoughts,  words, 
and  deeds,  while  they  were  on  earth,  shall  be  cer- 
tain evidence  of  their  total  depravity  and  guilt. 

John  xvii.  22.  And  the  glory  which  thou  hast  given  me,  I 
have  given  them;  that  they  may  be  one  even  as  we  are  one. 
1  Cor.  vi.  2.  Do  ye  not  know  that  the  saints  shall  judge  the 
world?  3.  We  shall  judge  angels.  Rev.  xx.  12.  And  I  saw 
the  dead,  small  and  great,  stand  before  God :  and  the  books 
were  opened ;  and  another  book  was  opened,  which  is  the 
book  of  life ;  and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  those  things 
which  were  written  in  the  books  according  to  their  works. 
13.  And  they  were  judged  every  man  according  to  their 
works.  15.  And  whosoever  was  not  found  written  in  the 
book  of  life,  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire. 

6.  The  wicked  shall  be  banished,  together  with 
the  fallen  angels,  into  the  regions  of  never-ending 
misery:  and  the  righteous  shall  accompany  Christ 
in  triumph  into  endless  happiness  and  glory. 

Matt.  XXV.  41.  Then  shall  he  say  also  unto  them  on  the 
left  hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,,  into  everlasting  fire, 
prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels.  46.  And  these  shall 
go  away  into  everlasting  punishment ;  but  the  righteous  into 
life  eternal.  Psalm  Ixxiii.  24.  Thou  shalt  guide  me  with  thy 
counsel,  and  afterward  receive  me  to  glory. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "  That  the  soul  continues  in  a  state  of  inac- 
tivity from  death  until  the  resurrection. 

2.  "  That  there  is  some  other  state,  besides  the 
states  of  misery  and  happiness,  into  which  separate 
spirits  may  enter. 


Christ's  headship.  75 

3.  "  That  there  shall  be  no  resurrection  of  the 
dead. 

4.  "  That  there  shall  be  no  resurrection  of  the 
wicked,  but  of  the  saints  only. 

5.  "  That  it  is  not  the  same  body  which  died 
that  shall  arise. 

6.  "  That  the   punishment  of  the  wicked  shall 
ever  come  to  an  end. 

7.  "  That  the  Mediator  is  not  the  Judge  who  shall 
settle  the  unchangeable  state  of  angels  and  men." 


CHAPTER  XX. 

OF  CHRIST'S  HEADSHIP. 

1.  The  Mediator,  having  voluntarily  humbled 
himself  in  human  nature,  for  our  redemption,  is 
appointed  to  the  highest  power  and  glory,  and  in 
his  exalted  state  he  rules  in  and  over  all  his  chil- 
dren, as  their  living  Head  and  Lawgiver ;  and  gov- 
erns all  creatures  and  all  their  actions  for  his  own 
glory  and  our  salvation,  as  Head  over  all  things  to 
the  church,  which  is  his  body. 

Phil.  ii.  8,  9.  And  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  hum- 
bled himself  and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death 
of  the  cross.  Wherefore  God,  also,  hath  highly  exalted  him, 
and  given  him  a  name  which  is  above  every  name.  Eph.  i.  20. 
When  he  raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  set  him  at  his  own 
right  hand  in  the  heavenly  places.     21.  Far  above  all  princi- 


76  Christ's  headship. 

pality,  and  power,  and  might,  and  dominion,  and  every  name 
that  is  named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but  also  in  that  which 
is  to  come.  22.  And  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet,  and 
gave  him  to  be  the  head  over  ^11  things  to  the  church.  Heb. 
ii.  8.  Thou  hast  put  all  things,  in  subjection  under  his  feet. 
For  in  that  he  put  all  in  subjection  under  him,  he  left  nothing 
that  is  not  put  under  him. 

2.  God-man  laid  the  foundation  of  the  church's 
existence  and  salvation  in  his  own  infinite  right- 
eousness. He  quickens  church-members  by  his 
divine  Spirit ;  he  lives  in  them  and  they  in  him  as 
their  life  and  strength;  and  he  alone  has  a  right  to 
appoint  ordinances  and  officers,  and  to  establish 
laws,  as  the  King  and  Head  of  his  church. 

Jer.  xxiii.  5.  In  his  days  Judah  shall  be  saved,  and  Israel 
shall  dwell  safely :  and  this  is  his  name  whereby  he  shall  be 
called.  The  Lord  our  Righteousness.  1  Cor.  iii.  11.  For  other 
foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus 
Christ.  John  vi.  63.  It  is  the  Spirit  that  quickeneth.  Chap, 
xvii.  26.  And  I  have  declared  unto  them  thy  name,  and  will 
declare  it,  that  the  love  wherewith  thou  hast  loved  me  may 
be  in  them,  and  I  in  them.  Is.  ix.  6,  7.  For  unto  us  a  child 
is  born,  unto  us  a  Son  is  given  :  and  the  government  shall  be 
upon  his  shoulders  —  upon  the  throne  of  David,  and  upon  his 
kingdom  to  order  it,  and  to  establish  it  with  judgment  and 
with  justice  from  henceforth  even  for  ever. 

3.  Submission  is  due  to  the  mediatory  authority, 
from  all  the  intelligent  creatures  of  God.  Men. 
not  only  as  saints  and  church-members,  but  also  in 
every  possible  relation  and  condition,  are  under  ob- 
ligation to  subserve  his  gracious  purposes  according 
to  his  law.  The  holy  angels  minister  under  his 
directions  to  the  heirs  of  salvation. 


Christ's  headship.  77 

Phil.  ii.  10.  That  at  the  name  of  Jesus,  every  knee  should 
bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things  in  earth,  and  things  un- 
der the  earth.  Psalm  ii.  10.  Be  wise,  now,  therefore,  O  ye 
kings ;  be  instructed,  ye  judges  of  the  earth.  12.  Kiss  the 
Son,  lest  he  be  angry,  and  ye  perish.  Heb.  i.  6.  And  he  saith, 
Let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  him.  14.  Are  they  not  all 
ministering  spirits,  sent  forth  to  minister  for  them  who  shall 
be  heirs  of  salvation. 

4.  The  administration  of  the  kingdom  of  provi- 
dence is  subordinate  to  the  dispensation  of  grace. 
Christ  Jesus,  as  the  Head  of  the  church,  rules  by 
his  infinite  power,  and  in  perfect  wisdom  and  jus- 
tice, over  all  the  parts  of  the  inanimate  and  irra- 
tional creation,  and  over  all  wicked  men  and  devils ;. 
making  them  and  all  their  changes,  counsels,  and 
efforts,  subservient  to  the  manifestation  of  God's 
glory  in  the  system  of  redemption. 

Rom.  viii.  28.  And  we  know  that  all  things  work  together 
for  good  to  them  that  love  God,  to  them  who  are  the  called 
according  to  his  purpose.  Eph.  i.  22.  And  hath  put  all  things 
under  his  feet,  and  gave  him  to  be  the  head  over  all  things  to 
the  church.  John  xvii.  2.  As  thou  hast  given  him  power  over 
all  flesh,  that  he  should  give  eternal  life  to  as  many  as  thou 
hast  given  him.  Rev.  i.  18.  I  am  he  that  liveth,  and  was 
dead;  and,  behold, I  am  alive  for  evermore,  Amen ;  and  have 
the  keys  of  hell  and  death. 

*     We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them : 

1.  "  That  the  authority  of  God-man,  as  Mediator, 
is  confined  to  his  saints,  and  does  not  extend  to  all 
the  creatures  of  God. 


78  CHRISTIAN   CHURCH. 

2.  "  That  a  rational  creature  can,  in  any  station 
or  condition  whatever,  refuse  submission  to  Messiah, 
and  not  be  guilty. 

3.  "That  there  is  any  creature,  or  institution, 
which  is  not  subjected  to  Christ,  for  the  good  of 
his  church. 

4.  "  That  any  king  or  magistrate,  pope  or  coun- 
cil, has  a  right  to  dictate  any  part  of  the  doctrine 
or  the  order  of  the  Christian  church. 

5.  "  That  Christ  is  not  the  sole  Head  and  Law- 
giver of  his  church." 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

1.  God,  in  order  to  display  his  own  perfections, 
in  the  redemption  of  mankind,  and  to  bring  the 
redeemed  to  glory,  hath  appointed  a  church  in 
this  w^orld,  comprehending  all  those  who  are  dis- 
tinguished from  the  rest  of  mankind  by  the  dispen- 
sation of  the  covenant  of  grace. 

Psalm  1.  2.  Out  of  Zion,  the  perfection  of  beauty,  God  hath 
shined.  Epk  iv.  11,  12.  And  he  gave  some,  apostles  ;  and 
some,  prophets ;  and  some,  evangelists ;  and  some,  pastors 
and  teachers  ;  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints.  Eph.  v.  24-26. 
The  church  is  subject  unto  Christ — Christ  also  loved  the 
church,  and  gave  himself  for  it,  that  he.  might  sanctify  it  by 
the  word.  John  xvii.  14.  I  have  given  them  thy  word,  and 
the  world  hath  hated  them,  because  they  are  not  of  the  world. 


CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  79 

2.  The  church  invisible  embraces  all  who  are 
really  interested  in  the  covenant  of  grace ;  who 
have  been  elected  in  Christ  and  shall  be  saved. 
The  church  visible,  standing  in  an  external  relation 
to  Christ  in  the  visible  dispensation  of  the  covenant 
of  grace,  comprehends  all  adults  who  profess  faith 
in  Christ,  and  give  obedience  to  his  law,  together 
with  all  their  children. 

Eph.  i.  22.  Head  over  all  things  to  the  church,  23.  which  is 
his  body.  Chap.  v.  27.  That  he  might  present  it  to  himself 
a  glorious  church,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such 
thing.  Acts  ii.  38.  Repent  and  be  baptized,  every  one  of  you, 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  —  39.  For  the  promise  is  unto 
you  and  to  your  children.  41.  Then  they  that  gladly  received 
his  word,  were  baptized :  and  the  same  day  there  were  added 
unto  them  about  three  thousand  souls.  47.  And  the  Lord 
added  to  the  church  daily  such  as  should  be  saved.  Matt.  xix. 
14.  Suffer  little  children — for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven. 

3.  The  visible  church,  according  to  the  institu- 
tion of  Christ  the  head,  is  ONE  among  all  nations. 
The  Scriptures  direct,  for  the  more  convenient  edi- 
fication of  believers,  distinct  congregations,  and  dis- 
tinct judicatories,  all  connected  under  himself;  but 
it  is  both  the  sin  and  the  loss  of  professed  Chris- 
tians, to  establish  distinctions  which  destroy  the 
UNITY  of  the  church. 

Matt.  xvi.  18.  And  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church, 
and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.  Acts  xv.  41. 
He  went  through  Syiia  and  Cilicia,  confirming  the  churches. 
Jas.  iii.  16.  Where  envying  and  strife  is,  there  is  confusion 
and  every  evil  work.     Eph.  iv.  3,  4.  Endeavoring  to  keep  the 


80  CHRISTIAN   CHURCH. 

unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.  There  is  one  body 
and  one  spirit,  even  as  ye  are  called  in  one  hope  of  your  call- 
ing. 1  Cor.  xii.  12.  For  as  the  body  is  one,  and  hath  many 
members,  and  all  the  members  of  that  one  body,  being  many, 
are  one  body,  so  also  is  Christ.  13.  For  by  one  Spirit  are  we 
all  baptized  into  one  body. 

4.  It  is  the  duty  of  a  Christian  to  pray  for  the 
reformation  of  every  part  of  Christ's  church  ;  to 
inquire  what  part  adheres  most  closely  to  the  Scrip- 
ture plan  ;  and  without  prejudice,  join  in  that  com- 
munion which  is  most  pure,  and  in  which  he  may 
prove  most  useful  in  the  service  of  Christ. 

Ps.  exxii.  6.  Pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem.  7.  Peace  be 
within  thy  walls,  and  prosperity  within  thy  palaces.  9.  Be- 
cause of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  I  will  seek  thy  good.  1  Thess. 
V.  21.  Prove  all  things ;  hold  fast  that  which  is  good.  1  Cor. 
xi.  2.  Keep  the  ordinances  as  I  delivered  them  to  you.  34. 
That  ye  come  not  together  unto  condemnation. 

5.  When  any  church  imposes  sinful  terms  of 
communion  —  when  the  constitution  is  anti-scrip- 
tural—  when  the  administration  is  corrupt,  and 
attempts  at  its  reformation  have  proved  ineffectual, 
it  is  the  duty  of  Christians  to  separate  from  it ;  and 
if  the  majority  should  violate  the  terms,  upon  which 
church-members  were  united,  it  is  lawful  for  the 
minority  to  testify  against  the  defection,  and  to 
walk  by  the  rule  of  their  former  attainments. 

Rom.  iii.  8.  Let  us  do  evil,  that  good  may  come  ?  —  whose 
damnation  is  just.  1  Cor.  xi.  19.  For  there  must  be  also 
heresies  among  you,  that  they  which  are  approved  may  be 
made  manifest  among  you.  Is.  viii.  20.  To  the  law  and  to 
the  testimony,  if  they  speak  not  according  to  this  word,  it  is 


CHRISTIAN   CHURCH.  81 

because  there  is  no  light  in  them.  2  Cor.  vi.  14.  And  what 
communion  hath  light  with  darkness  ?  16.  And  what  agree- 
ment hath  the  temj^le  of  God  with  idols?  17.  Wherefore, 
come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the 
Lord,  and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing,  and  I  will  receive  you. 
1  Cor.  X.  18.  Are  not  they  which  eat  of  the  sacrifices,  par- 
takers of  the  altar  ?  20.  And  I  would  not  that  ye  should  have 
fellowship  with  devils.  21.  Ye  cannot  be  partakers  of  the 
Lord's  table  and  the  table  of  devils.  Rev.  xi.  1.  Rise  and 
measure  the  temple  of  God,  and  the  altar,  and  them  that  wor- 
ship therein.  Chap,  xviii.  4.  And  I  heard  another  voice  from 
heaven,  saying,  Come  out  of  her,  my  people,  that  ye  be  not 
partakers  of  her  sins,  and  that  ye  receive  not  her  plagues. 
Phil.  iii.  16.  Nevertheless,  whereto  we  have  already  attained, 
let  us  walk  by  the  same  rule,  let  us  mind  the  same  thing. 

6.  There  may  be  associations  of  men  called 
churches,  which  are  founded  upon  antichristian 
principles,  and  some  churches  have  degenerated 
into  synagogues  of  Satan.  Such  are  not  to  be 
considered  as  branches  of  the  true  Christian  church. 

Rev.  xi.  1.  And  there  was  given  me  a  reed  like  unto  a  rod : 
And  the  angel  stood,  saying.  Rise,  measure  the  temple  of  God, 
and  the  altar,  and  them  that  worship  therein.  2.  But  the 
court  which  is  without  the  temple  leave  out  and  measure  it 
not ;  for  it  is  given  unto  the  Gentiles  ;  and  the  holy  city  shall 
they  tread  under  foot.  Chap.  xvii.  5.  And  upon  her  forehead 
was  a  name  written,  Mystery,  Babylon  the  Great,  the  Mother 
of  Harlots  and  Abominations  of  the  earth.  Chap.  iii.  9.  Be- 
hold, I  will  make  them  of  the  synagogue  of  Satan  (which  say 
they  are  Jews  and  are  not,  but  do  lie). 

7.  No  association  of  men  on  earth  is  infallible, 
and  there  is  no  certainty  that  any  one  particular 
church,  in  any  particular  place,  shall  remain  always 

6 


82  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

pure.  But  God  has  engaged  to  preserve  a  visible 
church  of  Christ  somewhere  upon  the  earth,  until 
the  end  of  time.  Sound  doctrine,  a  legitimate 
ministry,  and  the  proper  use  of  the  sacraments,  are 
the  characteristics  of  the  true  Christian  church. 

Rev.  iii.  16.  Because  thou  art  lukewann,  and  neither  cold 
nor  hot,  I  will  spue  thee  out  of  my  mouth.  Matt.  xvi.  18.  I 
will  build  my  church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it.  Acts  ii.  42.  And  they  continued  steadfast  in  the 
apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship.  Chap.  xiv.  23.  And  when 
they  had  ordained  them  elders  in  every  church.  Matt,  xxviii. 
19.  Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  20.  Teacliing  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever 
I  have  commanded  you :  and  lo,  I  am  with  you,  alway,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world.  Amen.  Acts  xx.  7.  The  disciples 
came  together  to  break  bread.  1  Cor.  xi.  2.  Now  I  praise 
you,  brethren,  that  ye  remember  me  in  all  things,  and  keep 
the  ordinances,  as  I  delivered  them  to  you. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them : 

1.  "  That  there  can  be  a  period  in  which  there 
shall  not  be  a  visible  church  of  Christ  on  earth. 

2.  ^'  That  it  is  not  sinful  to  promote  and  maintain 
schisms  destructive  to  the  unity  of  the  Christian 
church. 

3.  "  That  it  is  a  matter  of  indifference  to  what 
church  a  person  belongs. 

4.  "  That  separation  from  a  corrupt  or  declining 
church  is  not  a  Christian  duty. 

5.  "That  any  visible  church  can  be  perfectly 
pure  and  infallible  while  on  earth. 


CHURCH-FELLOWSHIP.  83 

6.   "  That  the  infant  children  of  church-members 
are  not  members  of  the  visible  Christian  church." 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

OF  CHURCH-FELLOWSHIP. 

1.  It  is  the  duty  of  all  who  hear  the  gospel  to 
enter  into  the  communion  of  the  Christian  church, 
and  in  order  to  comply  with  this  duty,  faith  in 
Christ  is  necessary.  He  who  is  not  a  saint,  does 
not  love  God,  or  God's  children,  and  in  offering  to 
join  the  church,  he  either  deceives  himself,  or  acts 
the  part  of  a  hypocrite. 

Acts  ii.  38.  Repent  and  be  baptized,  every  one  of  you.  41. 
Then  they  that  gladly  received  the  word  were  baptized,  and 
the  same  day  there  were  added  unto  them  about  three  thou- 
sand souls.  47.  And  the  Lord  added  to  the  church  daily 
such  as  should  be  saved.  Heb.  xi.  6.  But  without  faith  it  is 
impossible  to  please  him.  2  Tim.  iii.  5.  Having  a  form  of 
godliness ;  but  denying  the  power  thereof;  from  such  turn 
away. 

2.  The  qualifications  for  church-membership 
necessary  in  adults,  are,  that  they  knowingly  pro- 
fess a  belief  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  promise  sub- 
mission to  all  the  institutions  of  Christ,  evidence 
repentance,  and  manifest  no  prevailing  inclination 
to  any  kind  of  wickedness. 

Acts  viii.  37.  If  thou  belie  vest  with  all  thine  heart  thou 
mayest.     Gal.  v.  22,  23.  The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy, 


84  CHURCH-FELLOWSHIP. 

peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness, 
temperance ;  against  such  there  is  no  laAV.  Acts  xxvi.  20. 
That  they  should  repent  and  turn  to  God,  and  do  works  meet 
for  repentance.  Psalm  xxiv.  3.  Who  shall  ascend  unto  the 
hill  of  the  Lord  ?  and  who  shall  stand  in  his  holy  place  ?  4. 
He  that  hath  clean  hands,  and  a  pure  heart ;  who  hath  not 
lifted  up  his  soul  unto  vanity,  nor  sworn  deceitfully. 

3.  The  end  of  Church-Fellowship  is  to  exhibit 
a  system  of  sound  principles,  to  maintain  the  ordi- 
nances of  gospel  worship  in  their  purity,  to  promote 
holiness,  and  to  prepare  the  saints  for  heaven. 

.  Col.  ii.  2.  Being  knit  together  in  love  — to  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  mystery  of  God,  and  of  the  Father,  and  of  Christ. 
Acts  ii.  42.  And  they  continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostles' 
doctrine  and  fellowship.  Rev.  ii.  25.  That  which  ye  have, 
hold  fast  till  I  come.  Phil.  ii.  15.  That  ye  may  be  blameless 
and  harmless,  the  sons  of  God,  without  rebuke.  Rom.  xiv. 
13.  That  no  man  put  a  stumbling-block  or  occasion  to  fall  in 
his  brother's  way.  Col.  i.  12.  Giving  thanks  unto  the  Father, 
which  hath  made  us  meet  to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints  in  light. 

4.  The  Christian  church,  as  a  society  of  rational 
beings,  must  have  explicit  terms  of  communion,  to 
which  every  member  gives  his  assent.  It  is  not  to 
be  expected  that  all  men  shall  think  alike  about 
every  object  of  thought;  but  Christians  cannot  co- 
operate, unless  they  are  of  one  mind  about  the 
general  principles  of  Christianity.  Terms  of  Chris- 
tian communion  should  embrace  nothing  but  what 
is  divine  truth,  and  reject  nothing  for  which  the 
church  hath  faithfully  contended. 


CHURCH-FELLOWSHIP.  85 

Amos  iii.  3.  Can  two  walk  together,  except  they  be  agreed  ? 
Phil.  i.  27.  With  one  mind,  striving  together  for  the  faith  of 
the  gospel.  Rom.  xiv.  5.  One  man  esteemeth  one  day  above 
another;  another  esteemeth  every  day  alike.  Acts  xv.  7. 
There  had  been  much  disputing.  Rom.  xiv.  1.  Him  that  is 
weak  in  the  faith  receive  ye,  but  not  to  doubtful  disputations. 
Jude,  ver.  3.  Ye  should  earnestly  contend  for  the  faith.  Rev. 
iii.  10.  Thou  hast  kept  the  word  of  my  patience.  1  Tim.  i.  4. 
Neither  give  heed  to  fables,  and  endless  genealogies,  which 
minister  questions,  rather  than  godly  edifying.  Phil.  ii.  2. 
Fulfil  ye  my  joy,  that  ye  be  like-minded,  having  the  same 
love,  being  of  one  accord,  of  one  mind.  Matt.  xv.  9.  But  in 
vain  they  do  worship  me,  teaching  for  doctrines  the  command, 
ments  of  men.  Phil.  iii.  16.  Nevertheless,  whereto  we  have 
ah-eady  attained,  let  us  walk  by  the  same  rule,  let  us  mind  the 
same  thing.  Rom.  xiv.  19.  Follow  after  the  things  which 
make  for  peace,  and  things  wherewith  one  may  edify  another. 
Acts  ii.  42.  And  they  continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostles' 
doctrine  and  fellowship. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors^  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "  That  it  is  not  sinful  ta  neglect  Church-Fel- 
lowship. 

2.  "  That  an  unbeliever  has  a  right  in  the  sight 
of  God  to  enter  into  Christian  communion. 

3.  "That  saintship  is  the  criterion  of  church- 
membership,  so  that  the  visible  church  may  not, 
without  guilt,  receive  any  who  is  not  really  a  saint, 
or  exclude  any  who  is  regenerated. 

4.  "  That  it  is  not  criminal  to  separate  from  the 
communion  of  a  church  which  maintains  Christian 
purity  and  faithfulness. 


86  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

5.  "That  it  is  lawful  for  the  church  to  be  with- 
out any  terms  of  Christian  communion. 

6.  "  That  any  person  may  be  admitted  to  com- 
munion who  opposes  any  of  the  terms  of  church- 
fellowship. 

7.  "That  occasional  communion  may  be  extended 
to  persons  who  should  not  be  received  to  constant 
fellowship." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

OF  TPIE   GOVERNMENT  OF   THE   CHURCH. 

1.  ChrisTj  the  Head  and  Lawgiver,  has  appointed 
in  his  word  a  particular  form  of  government  for  the 
New  Testament  church,  distinct  from  the  civil  gov- 
ernment of  the  nations  in  which  Christians  live. 
This  form  of  church  government  is  to  continue 
until  the  end  of  the  world. 

Is.  xxxiii.  20.  Thine  eyes  shall  see  Jerusalem  a  quiet  habita- 
tion, a  tabernacle  that  shall  not  be  taken  down.  23.  The 
Lord  is  our  lawgiver,  the  Lord  is  our  king ;  he  will  save  us. 
Chap.  ix.  6.  The  government  shall  be  upon  his  shoulder. 
Eph.  i.  22.  Head  over  all  things  to  the  church.  Heb.  viii.  5. 
See  that  thou  niake  all  things  agreeable  to  the  pattern  showed 
'to  thee  in  the  mount.  1  Cor.  xii.  28.  God  hath  set  some  in 
the  church  —  governments.  2  Cor.  iii.  10.  The  power  which 
the  Lord  hath  given  me  to  edification,  and  not  to  destruction. 
Heb.  xiii.  7.  Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and  sub- 
mit yourselves. 

2.  Christ  Jesus  did  commission  several  persons 
with  extraordinary  powers,  such  as  Apostles,  Proph- 


GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CHURCH.  87 

ets,  and  Evangelists,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
New  Testament  dispensation,  to  settle  the  consti- 
tution of  the  Christian  church  according  to  his  ap- 
pointment, and  commit  the  administration  of  it  into 
the  hands  of  the  ordinary  and  permanent  officers. 

Acts  i.  3.  Being  seen  of  them  forty  clays,  and  speaking  of 
the  things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  Eph.  iv.  10-13. 
He  that  descended  is  the  same  also  that  ascended  uj),  far 
above  all  heavens,  that  he  might  fill  all  things  ;  and  he  gave 
some,  apostles;  and  some,  prophets;  and  some,  evangelists; 
and  some,  pastors  and  teachers  —  for  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ  —  till  we  all  come,  in 
the  unity  of  the  faith  —  unto  a  perfect  man.  Acts  xiv.  23. 
And  when  they  had  ordained  them  elders  in  every  church 
they  commended  them  to  the  Lord.  Tit.  i.  5.  For  this  cause 
left  I  thee  in  Crete,  that  thou  shouldest  set  in  order  the  things 
that  are  wanting,  and  ordain  elders  in  every  city,  as  I  had  ap- 
pointed thee. 

3.  The  government  of  the  church  is  presbyte- 
rian.  Ministers  or  teaching  elders  are  the  highest 
officers,  and  among  these  there  is  a  perfect  parity 
of  power.  'With  teaching  elders  are  associated,  in 
the  exercise  of  ecclesiastical  government,  other 
elders  who  only  rule.  These  ministers  and  ruling 
elders  meet  in  courts,  congregational  sessions, 
presbyteries,  and  synods,  in  regular  subordination 
the  one  to  the  other.  To  these  courts  Christ  has 
given  the  power  of  governing  the  church,  and  or- 
daining officers,  and  this  power  is  entirely  minis- 
terial and  subordinate  to  his  law.  The  deacon 
has  no  power  except  about  the  temporalities  of  the 
church. 


88  GOVERNMENT    OF    THE    CHURCH. 

Acts  xiv.  23.  They  had  ordained  them-  elders  in  e very- 
church.  Chap.  XX.  17.  He  sent  to  Ephesus  and  called  the 
elders  *  of  the  church.  18.  And  when  they  were  come  unto 
him,  he  said  unto  them,  28.  Take  heed,  therefore,  unto  your- 
selves, and  to  all  the  flock  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath 
made  you  overseers,!  to  feed  t  the  church  of  God,  which  he 
hath  purchased  with  his  own  blood.  1  Tim.  v.  17.  Let  the 
elders  that  rule  well,  be  counted  worthy  of  double  honor, 
especially  they  who  labor  in  the  word  and  doctrine.  1  Tim. 
xiv.  4.  Laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery.  Matt,  xviii. 
17.  Tell  it  unto  the  church.  18.  Whatsoever  ye  shall  bind 
on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven.  20.  For  where  two  or 
three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the 
midst  of  them.  Acts  xv.  2.  They  determined  that  Paul  and 
Barnabas,  and  certain  other  of  them,  should  go  up  to  Jerusa- 
lem, unto  the  apostles  and  elders  about  this  question.  Acts 
vi.  1.  And  in  those  days,  when  the  number  of  the  disciples 
was  multipled,  there  arose  a  murmuring  of  the  Grecians 
against  the  Hebrews,  because  their  widows  were  neglected  in 
the  daily  ministration.  2.  It  is  not  reason  that  we  should 
leave  the  w^ord  of  God,  and  serve  tables.  3.  Look  ye  out 
among  you  seven  men  —  whom  we  may  appoint  over  this 
business.  4.  But  we  will  give  ourselves  —  to  the  ministry  of 
the  word. 

4.  No  ecclesiastical  authority  is  lodged  in  the 
hands  of  private  Christians  or  civil  Magistrates. 
Church  judicatories  are  subordinate  only  to  Christ 
Jesus.  They  appoint,  by  an  exclusive  right,  their 
own  times  and  places  of  meeting  and  adjournment. 
But  every  congregation  of  Christians  have  the 
right  of  choosing  all  the  officers  who  shall  stand  in 
a  particular  relation  to  themselves. 

*  Presbyters.  f  Bishops.  X  Perform  the  duty  of  a  pastor. 


GOVERNMENT    OF    THE    CHURCH.  89 

Heb.  xiii.  17.  Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and 
submit  yourselves.  Matt.  xvi.  19.  I  will  give  unto  thee  the 
keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  And  whatsoever  thou  shalt 
bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven.  2  Cor.  xiii.  10.  The 
power  which  the  Lord  hath  given  me  to  edification.  1  Cor. 
xii.  18.  But  now  hath  God  set  the  members,  every  one  of 
them  in  the  body  as  it  hath  pleased  him.  20.  But  now  are 
they  many  members,  and  yet  but  one  body.  21.  And  the  eye 
cannot  say  to  the  hand,  I  have  no  need  of  thee ;  nor  again, 
the  head  to  the  feet,  I  have  no  need  of  you. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them : 

1.  "  That  any  power  or  person  on  earth  has  a 
right  to  exercise  supremacy  over  the  church,  and 
that  Christians  may  submit  to  such  pretensions. 

2.  "  That  there  is  no  form  of  church  government 
of  divine  right. 

3.  "That  pope  or  bishop,  as  claiming  a  power 
superior  to  a  teaching  presbyter,  is  an  officer  of 
the  true  church  of  Christ,  appointed  by  divine 
authority. 

4.  "  That  there  should  be  no  ruling  elders. 

5.  "That  any  assembly  of  private  Christians 
may  lawfully  exercise  any  part  of  the  government 
or  discipline  of  the  Christian  church. 

6.  "  That  ecclesiastical  judicatories  are  not  sub- 
ordinate one  to  the  other. 

7.  "  That  the  Christian  church  may  give  up  to 
civil  rulers  the  exclusive  right  of  assembling  judi- 
catories, or  any  power  whatever  in  dissolving 
them. 


90  CHRISTIAN    WORSHIP. 

8.  "  That  a  Christian  minister  may  lawfully  re- 
linquish his  right  to  exercise  the  power  of  govern- 
ment arid  discipline  in  the  church." 


CHAPTER  XXIY. 

OF   CHRISTIAN  WORSHIP. 

1.  "God  is  to  be  worshipped  by  all  his  intelligent 
creatures,  in  such  a  manner  as  he  himself  shall 
prescribe  ;  and  as  no  sinner  can  have  access  unto 
him,  but  in  Christ  Jesus,  divine  revelation  is  the 
supreme  standard  by  which  all  modes  of  worship 
must  be  regulated. 

Luke  iv.  8.  It  is  written,  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy 
God,  and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve.  John  iv.  24.  God  is  a 
Spirit,  and  they  that  worship  him,  must  worship  him  in  spirit 
and  in  truth.  Rev.  iii.  22.  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear 
what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  Churches.  Matt,  xxviii.  20. 
Teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  com- 
manded you. 

2.  Conscience  is  not  a  rule  of  faith  or  practice  ; 
but  a  power  of  the  human  mind,  which  is  natural 
to  man,  and  necessarily  implies  our  accountable- 
ness  to  God.  The  exercise  of  a  good  conscience 
consists,  in  comparing  our  motives,  intentions,  and 
actions,  with  the  divine  law,  and  in  approving  or 
disapproving  of  them,  as  they  appear  to  be  agree- 
able unto,  or  contrary  to  the  law.     The  approbation 


CHRISTIAN   WORSHIP.  91 

of  this  moral  sense  is  accompanied  with  pleasure,  and 
its  disapprobation  with  pain. 

1  Sam.  xii.  21.  And  turn  ye  not  aside  :  for  then  should  ye 
go  after  vain  things,  which  cannot  profit  nor  deliver ;  for  they 
are  vain.  Rom.  ii.  14.  These  having  not  the  law,  are  a  law 
unto  themselves.  15.  Their  conscience  also  bearing  witness, 
and  their  thoughts  the  meanwhile  accusing  or  else  excusing. 
Heb.  xiii.  18.  We  trust  we  have  a  good  conscience,  in  all 
things  willing  to  live  honestly.  1  Tim.  i.  5.  The  end  of  the 
commandment  is  charity,  out  of  a  pure  heart,  and  of  a  good 
conscience,  and  of  faith  unfeigned.  2  Cor.  i.  12.  For  our 
rejoicing  is  this,  the  testimony  of  our  conscience,  that  in  sim- 
plicity, and  godly  sincerity,  not  with  fleshly  wisdom,  but  by 
the  grace  of  God,  we  have  had  our  conversation  in  the  world. 

3.  Every  man  is  bound  to  act  conscientiously  in 
every  part  of  religious  \yorship  ;  but  the  dictates 
of  conscience  cannot  render  false  worship  lawful  in 
any  man  or  body  of  men.  The  ri(//ds  of  conscience 
consist  in  the  conscientious  performance  of  every 
part  of  appointed  worship,  uninfluenced  by  the  fear 
of  man  ;  and  liberty  of  conscience  consists  in  enjoying 
these  rights  without  restraint. 

Acts  xxiv.  16.  And  herein  do  I  exercise  myself,  to  have 
always  a  conscience  void  of  ofience,  toward  God  and  toward 
men.  John  xvi.  2.  Whosover  killeth  you  will  think  that  he 
doeth  God  service.  Is.  i.  12.  When  ye  come  to  appear  before 
me,  who  hath  required  this  at  your  hand  ?  Ps.  xii.  4.  Who 
have  said,  With  our  tongue  will  we  prevail ;  our  lips  are  our 
own  :  Who  is  Lord  over  us  ?  2  Pet.  ii.  19.  Wliile  they  prom- 
ise them  hberty,  they  themselves  are  the  servants  of  cor- 
ruption. James  ii.  12.  So  speak  ye,  and  so  do,  as  they  that 
shall  be  judged  by  the  law  of  liberty.  GaL  ii.  4.  And  that 
because  of  false  brethren  unawares  brought  in,  who  came  in 


92  CHRISTIAN    WORSHIP. 

privily  to  spy  out  our  liberty,  which  we  have  in  Christ  Jesus, 
that  they  might  bring  us  into  bondage.  5.  To  whom  we  gave 
place  by  subjection,  no,  not  for  an  hour.  2  Cor.iii.  17.  Where 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty. 

4.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  man  to  maintain  a  de- 
vout frame  of  mind,  and  to  devote  to  secret  prayer, 
at  least,  a  part  of  every  evening  and  morning. 
Families  are  under  obligation  to  worship  the  great 
God  socially,  by  singing  Psalms,  reading  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  prayer,  each  night  and  day,  and  the 
head  of  the  family  should  take  care  that  these  du- 
ties be  performed,  and  that  regular  attendance  be 
given  by  every  member  of  the  family. 

1  Thess.  V.  17.  Pray  without  ceasing.  Psalm  cxix.  147.  I 
prevented  the  dawning  of  the  morning,  and  cried ;  I  hoped  in 
thy  word.  148.  Mine  eyes  prevent  the  night  watches,  that  I 
might  meditate  in  thy  word.  xcii.  1-2.  It  is  a  good  thing  to 
give  thanks  unto  the  Lord,  and  to  sing  praises  unto  thy  name, 
O  most  High;  to  show  forth  thy  loving-kindness  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  thy  faithfulness  every  night,  cxviii.  15.  The  voice  of 
rejoicing  and  salvation  is  in  the  tabernacles  of  the  righteous. 
Jer.  X.  25.  Pour  out  thy  fury  upon  the  heathen  that  know 
thee  not,  and  upon  the  families  that  call  not  on  thy  name. 
Gen.  xviii.  19.  I  know  him,  that  he  will  command  his  chil- 
dren, and  his  household  after  him,  and  they  shall  keep  the 
way  of  the  Lord.  Eph.  vi.  4.  Bring  them  up  in  the  nurture 
and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 

5.  Christians  should  frequently,  meet,  at  stated 
times,  for  acts  of  private  social  worship,  in  order  to 
strengthen  each  other  in  piety  and  zeal,  and  main- 
tain sincere  friendship  upon  evangelical  principles. 


CHRISTIAN    WORSHIP.  93 

Heb.  X.  25.  Not  forsaking  the  assembling  of  yourselves 
together,  as  the  manner  of  some  is ;  but  exhorting  one  an- 
other. Mai.  iii.  16.  Then  they  that  feared  the  Lord  spake 
often  one  to  another;  and  the  Lord  hearkened  and  heard. 
Col.  iii.  16.  Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly,  teach- 
ing and  admonishing  one  another  in  psalms,  and  hymns,  and 
spiritual  songs.  Matt,  xviii.  20.  For  where  two  or  three  are 
gathered  together,  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of 
them.  Song  viii.  13.  The  companions  hearken  to  thy  voice, 
cause  me  to  hear  it.  John  xx.  19.  Wlien  the  doors  were 
shut  where  the  disciples  were  assembled,  for  fear  of  the  Jews, 
came  Jesus,  and  stood  in  the  midst,  and  saith  unto  them, 
Peace  be  unto  you. 

6.  The  Lord  of  life  and  time  hath  set  apart  one 
seventh  part  of  time,  from  the  common  work  of 
life,  to  be  employed,  exclusively,  in  the  public  and 
private  exercises  of  God's  worship,  except  so  much 
of  it  as  may  be  taken  up  by  the  works  of  necessity 
and  mercy ;  and  since  the  resurrection  of  Christ, 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  comprehending  twenty- 
four  hours  from  midnight  to  midnight,  is  the  weekly 
Sabbath. 

Exod.  XX.  10.  The  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord 
thy  God,  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work.  Acts  xv.  21. 
Moses  of  old  time  hath  in  every  city  them  that  preach  him, 
being  read  in  the  synagogue  every  Sabbath-day.  Chap.  xx. 
7.  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  the  disciples  came 
together  to  break  bread,  Paul  preached  unto  them.  Matt.  xii. 
12.  Wherefore  it  is  lawful  to  do  good  upon  the  Sabbath-day. 
John  XX.  1.  The  first  day  of  the  week  cometh  Mary  Magda- 
lene early  when  it  was  yet  dark  —  and  seeth  the  stone  taken 
away  from  the  sepulchre.  19.  Then  the  same  day,  at  even- 
ing, being  the  first  day  of  the  week  —  came  Jesus  and  stood 
in  the  midst,  and  saith  unto  them.  Peace  be  unto  you. 


94  CHRISTIAN    WORSHIP. 

7.  Those  who  are  ordained,  by  the  Head  of  the 
church,  to  preach  the  gospel,  should  labor  faithfully 
in  explaining,  and  applying  the  word  of  God  to  the 
assembled  congregation  every  Lord's  day,  and  all 
should  conscientiously  attend  this  public  school  of 
instruction,  and  sanctuary  of  devotion.  The  min- 
isters of  religion  have  no  warrant  for  reading  their 
iiermons  to  the  congregation. 

Lev.  xix.  30.  Ye  shall  keep  my  Sabbaths,  and  reverence 
my  sanctuary.  Rom.  x.  15.  And  how  shall  they  preach  ex- 
cept they  be  sent  ?  as  it  is  written,  How  beautiful  are  the 
feet  of  them  that  preach  the  gospel  of  peace.  1  Tim.  ii.  15. 
Study  to  show  thyself  approved  unto  God,  a  workman  that 
iieedeth  not  to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of 
truth.  Luke  iv.  16.  And  as  his  custom  was,  he  went  into  the 
synagogue  on  the  Sabbath  day.  17.  And  when  he  had  opeyied 
the  book^  he  found  the  place  where  it  was  written,  18.  The 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me 
to  preach  the  gospel.  20.  And  he  closed  the  book.  21.  And 
he  began  to  say  unto  them.  This  day  is  the  Scripture  fulfilled. 
Acts  X.  33.  Now,  therefore,  are  we  all  here  present  before 
God,  to  hear  all  things  that  are  commanded.  Chap.  xx.  7. 
Paul  preached  to  them — and  continued  his  speech  until  mid- 
night. Tit.  ii.  1.  But  speak  thou  the  things  that  become 
sound  doctrine. 

8.  Singing  God's  praise  is  a  part  of  public  social 
worship,  in  which  the  whole  congregation  should 
join.  The  Book  of  Psalms,  which  are  of  divine  in- 
spiration, is  well  adapted  to  the  state  of  the  church, 
and  of  every  member,  in  all  ages  and  circumstances; 
and  these  Psalms,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  imitations 
and  uninspired  compositions,  are  to  be  used  in  so- 
cial worship. 


CHRISTIAN    WORSHIP.  95 

2  Sam.  xxiii.  1-2.  The  sweet  Psalmist  of  Israel  said,  The 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  spake  by  me,  and  his  word  was  in  my 
tongue.  2  Chron.  xxix.  30.  Sing  praise  unto  the  Lord,  with 
the  words  of  David,  and  of  Asaph  the  Seer.  Mark  xiv.  26. 
And  when  they  had  sung  an  hymn.  Ps.  xcvi.  1.  O  sing  unto 
the  Lord  a  new  song.  xcv.  2.  And  make  a  joyful  noise  unto 
him  with  psalms.  Eph.  v.  19.  Speaking  to  yourselves  in 
psalm^s.,  and  hymns^  and  spiritual  songs^  singing,  and  making 
melody  in  your  heart  to  the  Lord. 

9.  Public  prayer  is  to  accompany  the  word 
preached.  Written  forms  of  prayer,  whether  read 
or  repeated,  are  not  authorized  in  the  Scriptures  — 
are  not  calculated  to  exercise  the  mind  in  the 
graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit  —  are  not  adapted  to  the 
varieties  of  the  state  of  the  church  and  its  mem- 
bers ;  and  are  not  to  be  used  in  approaching  the 
throne  of  grace. 

Acts.  ii.  42.  And  they  continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostles' 
doctrine  —  and  in  prayers.  Matt.  vi.  7.  But  when  ye  pray, 
use  not  vain  repetitions  as  the  heathen  do.  1  Cor.  xii.  7.  But 
the  manifestation  of  the  Spirit  is  given  to  every  one  to  profit 
withal.  Chap.  xiv.  12.  Even  so  ye,  for  as  much  as  ye  are 
zealous  of  spiritual  gifts,  seek  that  ye  may  excel  to  the  edify- 
ing of  the  church.  Kom.  viii.  26.  The  Spirit  also  helpeth  our 
infirmities  :  for  we  know  not  what  we  should  pray  for  as  we 
ought ;  but  the  Spirit  itself  maketh  intercession  for  us  with 
groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered.  27.  And  he  that  search- 
eth  the  hearts,  knoweth  what  is  the  mind  of  the  Spirit,  be- 
cause he  maketh  intercession  for  the  saints  by  the  will  of 
God.  Heb.  iv.  16.  Let  us,  therefore,  come  boldly  unto  the 
throne  of  grace,  that  we  may  obtain  mercy,  and  find  grace  to 
help  in  time  of  need. 

10.  The  ministers  of  the  gospel  are  to  pronounce 
publicly  the  apostolic   benediction   in   some    such 


96  CHRISTIAN   WORSHIP. 

words  as  these  :  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  be  with  you  all. 

Kumbers  vi.  23-27.  Speak  unto  Aaron,  and  unto  his  sons, 
saying,  On  this  wise  ye  shall  bless  the  children  of  Israel  — 
and  I  will  bless  them.  2  Cor.  xiii.  14.  The  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  be  with  you  all.     Amen. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them: 

1.  "That  it  k  immaterial  what  form  of  worship 
is  used. 

2.  "  That  man  has  a  right  to  worship  God,  what- 
ever way  conscience  may  dictate,  although  that 
way  should  be  opposed  to  God's  commandments. 

3.  "  That  any  body  of  men  may  recognize  such 
a  right. 

4.  "  That  it  is  unnecssary  for  families  to  worship 
God  every  day,  and  particularly  to  make  singing 
Psalms  a  part  of  their  worship. 

5.  "  That  private  fellowship  meetings  among  the 
saints  are  not  of  divine  appointment. 

6.  "  That  there  is  no  Sabbath  under  the  gospel. 

7.  "That  any  unauthorized  person  may  take 
upon  him  to  preach  the  gospel. 

8.  "That  the  Scripture  psalmody  is  unfit  for 
gospel  worship. 

9.  "  That  the  church  should  receive  a  liturgy  of 
prayer." 


THE    SACRAMENTS.  97 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

OF  THE  SACRAMENTS. 

1.  The  only  Sacraments  of  the  New  Testament, 
are  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  these  are 
peculiar  badges  of  distinction  for  the  church  from 
the  world. 

Matt,  xxviii.  19.  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations, 
baj^tizing  them.  1  Cor.  xi.  24.  This  do  in  remembrance  of 
me.  26.  For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup, 
ye  do  show  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come.  Chap.  xii.  13.  For 
by  one  Spirit  arc  we  all  baptized  into  one  body  —  and  have 
been  all  made  to  drink  into  one  Spirit. 

2.  Baptism  is  administered  by  a  Christian  min- 
ister, applying  water  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  such 
adult  persons  as  profess  their  faith  in  Christ,  and 
obedience  to  him.  The  infants  of  church-mem- 
bers are  also  to  be  baptized,  and  baptism  is  not  to 
be  repeated. 

Matt,  xxviii.  19.  Baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Acts  x.  47.  Can  any 
man  forbid  water,  that  these  slioidd  not  be  baptized,  which 
have  received  the  Holy  Ghost?  Matt.  xix.  14.  Jesus  said, 
Suffer  little  children,  and  forbid  them  not,  to  come  unto  me ; 
for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

3.  The  Lord's  Supper  was  instituted  by  Christ, 
in  order  to  show  forth  his  death,  and  as  a  special 

7  ■ 


98  THE   SACRAMENTS. 

mean  of  communion  between  himself  and  his 
people.  It  is  administered  only  by  a  lawful  min- 
ister of  the  word,  to  such  baptized  persons  as, 
making  a  creditable  profession  of  their  faith,  have 
a  corresponding  practice. 

Luke  xxii.  19.  This  do  in  remembrance  of  me.  1  Cor.  x. 
16.  The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the  com- 
munion of  the  blood  of  Christ  ?  The  bread  which  we  break 
is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ  ?  Acts  ii.  41. 
They  that  gladly  received  his  word  were  baptized.  42.  And 
they  continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostles'  doctrine  and  fel- 
lowship, and  in  brealdng  of  bread. 

4.  The  Lord's  Supper  is  to  be  repeatedly  ad- 
ministered to  a  Christian  congregation,  as  a  mean 
of  strength  and  comfort  to  God's  people,  and  a 
manifestation  to  the  world  of  their  continuing  reg- 
ular and  steadfast  in  their  Christian  profession.  It 
is  not  a  necessary  part  of  ordinary  Sabbath  sanctifi- 
cation  ;  but  previous  preparation,  by  humiliation 
for  sin,  self-examination,  and  abstraction  from  the 
world,  is  proper  for  those  who  make  this  special, 
public,  and  social  profession  of  their  union  with 
Christ,  and  love  to  him.  It  is  the  duty  of  all  who 
hear  the  gospel,  to  believe  in  Christ,  and  com- 
memorate his  death  in  the  Lord's  Supper. 

1  Cor.  xi.  26.  For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink 
this  cup,  ye  do  show  the  Lord's  death.  Chap.  x.  17.  For  we, 
being  many,  are  one  bread,  and  one  body,  for  we  are  all  par- 
takers of  that  one  bread.  21.  Ye  cannot  be  partakers  of  the 
Lord's  table,  and  of  the  table  of  devils.  Chap.  xi.  28.  But  let 
a  man  examine  himself,  and  so  let  him  eat  of  that  bread,  and 


THE   SACRAMENTS.  99 

drink  of  that  cup.  32.  But  when  we  are  judged,  we  are 
chastened  of  the  Lord,  that  we  should  not  be  condemned  with 
the  world. 

5.  Bread  and  Wine  are  visible  symbols  of 
Christ's  body  and  blood,  which  he  appoints  to  be 
used  in  this  ordinance.  These  are  to  be  taken  up 
by  the  minister,  and  then  set  apart  by  prayer  to  a 
sacramental  use.  The  bread  being  broken  is  first 
to  be  distributed,  and  after  this,  the  cup  of  wine  is 
to  be  given  to  all  the  communicants. 

1  Cor.  xi.  23-25.  For  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  that 
which  also  I  delivered  unto  you,  that  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  same 
night  in  which  he  was  betrayed,  took  bread :  And,  when  he 
had  given  thanks,  he  brake  it,  and  said.  Take,  eat ;  this  is  my 
body,  which  is  broken  for  you  ;  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me. 
After  the  same  manner  also,  he  took  the  cup,  when  he  liad 
supped,  saying.  This  cup  is  the  New  Testament  in  my  blood : 
This  do  ye,  as  often  as  ye  drink  it,  in  remembrance  of  me. 
Matt.  xxvi.  26-29.  Jesus  took  bread,  and  blessed  it,  and  brake 
it,  and  gave  it  to  the  disciples,  and  said.  Take,  eat ;  this  is  my 
body.  And  he  took  the  cup,  and  gave  thanks,  and  gave  it  to 
them,  saying.  Drink  ye  all  of  it.  I  will  not  drink  henceforth 
of  this  fruit  of  the  vine^  until  that  day  when  I  drink  it  new 
with  you  in  my  Father's  kingdom. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them : 

1.  "  That  there  are  more  sacraments  under  the 
New  Testament  than  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper. 

2.  "That  any  sacrament  can  be  administered 
by  a  person  who  is  not  ordained  to  the  gospel 
ministry. 


100  FASTING    AND   THANKSGIVING. 

3.  "  That  no  person  can  be  saved  without  par- 
taking of  one  or  both  of  the  sacraments. 

4.  "  That  the  infants  of  such  as  are  members  of 
the  visible  church  are  not  to  be  baptized. 

5.  "  That  overwhehning  with  water  is  essential 
to  Christian  baptism. 

6.  "  That  infants  are  as  heathens  until  they  are 
baptized^  and  that  baptism  regenerates  and  christens 
them. 

7.  "  That  parents  who  are  deemed  unworthy 
of  approaching  the  Lord's  table,  or  who  habitually 
despise  that  ordinance,  may  have  their  children 
baptized. 

8.  "  That  Christ  is  corporally  present  in  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

9.  "  That  the  cup  is  to  be  withheld  from  the  laity. 

10.  "  That  taking  the  sacramental  elements, 
before  they  are  set  apart  by  prayer,  is  not  a  sacra- 
mental action. 

11.  "  That  a  private  administration  of  the  sacra- 
ments is  as  proper  as  the  administration  of  them  in 
the  presence  of  the  church." 


CHAPTER  XXYL 

OF  RELIGIOUS   FASTING  AND   THANKSGIVING. 

1.    There  is  a  general  uniformity  in  the  dispen- 
sations of  Divine  Providence  to  every  age  of  the 


FASTING   AND   THANKSGIVING.  101 

world  ;  but  there  is  also  in  them  such  a  variety,  as, 
in  relation  to  individuals  and  communities,  may 
prove  somewhat  extraordinary.  It  is  the  duty  of 
men  to  observe  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  endeavor 
after  corresponding  dispositions  and  exercises. 

Eccles.  ix.  2.  All  things  come  alike  to  all.  Chap.  i.  9.  The 
thing  that  hath  been,  it  is  that  which  shall  be ;  and  that 
which  is  done,  is  that  which  shall  be  done:  and  there  is  no 
new  thing  under  the  sun.  Chap.  vii.  14.  In  the  day  of  pros- 
perity be  joyful ;  but  in  the  day  of  adversity,  consider.  God 
also  hath  set  the  one  over  against  the  other,  to  the  end  that 
man  should  find  nothing  after  him. 

2.  There  is  no  day  holy  except  the  Sabbath ; 
but  such  duties  as  are  to  be  performed  require  that 
time  necessarj^  for  performing  them  be  devoted  to 
that  purpose.  When  God  calls  upon  us  to  solemn 
fasting  or  thanksgiving,  the  whole  time  dedicated 
to  such  exercises  should  be  religiously  observed. 

Exod.  XX.  9.  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor  and  do  all  thy  work. 
Eccles.  iii.  1.  To  every  thing  there  is  a  season,  and  a  time  to 
every  purpose  under  heaven.  11.  He  hath  made  every  thing 
beautiful  in  his  time.  Rom.  xiv.  6.  He  that  regardeth  the 
day,  regardeth  it  unto  the  Lord.  Jer.  xxxvi.  6.  Read  in  the 
roll,  which  thou  hast  written  fi'om  my  mouth,  the  words  of 
the  Lord,  in  the  ears  of  the  people,  in  the  Lord's  house  upon 
the  fasting-day. 

3.  Religious  fasting  consists  in  abstinence  from 
food,  and  from  worldly  employments  and  recrea- 
tions, accompanied  with  solemn  humiliation  for  sin, 
and  is  a  mean  appointed  by  Christ  for  warding 
off  the  effects  of  God's  anger  —  exciting  to  sympa- 


102  FASTING    AND    THANKSGIVING. 

thy  with  suffering  bretliren  —  asking  direction  in 
difficult  cases  —  mortifying  the  body  of  sin  —  re- 
covering a  sense  of  peace  with  God  —  and  for 
obtaining  more  near  communion  w^ith  him. 

Jonah  iii.  5.  The  people  of  Nineveh  believed  God,  and  pro- 
claimed a  fast.  9.  Who  can  tell  if  God  will  turn  and  repent, 
and  turn  away  from  his  fierce  anger.  Neh.  i.  3.  The  renmant 
that  are  left  of  the  captivity  there  in  the  province,  are  in 
great  afiliction  and  reproach.  4.  When  I  heard  these  words 
I  fasted  and  prayed  before  the  God  of  heaven.  Ezra  viii.  21. 
Then  I  proclaimed  a  fast,  there,  at  the  river  Ahava,  that  we 
might  afflict  ourselves  before  our  God,  to  seek  of  him  a  right 
way  for  us.  2  Cor.  xi.  27.  In  fastings  often.  1  Cor.  ix.  27. 
But  I  keep  under  my  body,  and  bring  it  into  subjection. 
Zech.  viii.  19.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  fast  of  the 
fourtli  month,  and  the  fast  of  tlie  fifth,  and  the  fast  of  the 
seventh,  and  the  fast  of  the  tenth,  shall  be  unto  the  house  of 
Judah,  joy  and  gladness.  Acts  x.  30.  Cornelius  said,  Four 
days  ago  I  was  fasting  until  this  hour,  and  at  the  ninth  hour 
I  prayed  in  my  liouse,  and  behold  a  man  stood  before  me,  in 
bright  clothing,  31.  And  said,  Cornelius,  thy  prayer  is  heard. 
Matt.  vi.  17.  When  thou  fastest,  anoint  thine  head,  and  wash 
thy  face,  18.  That  thou  appear  not  unto  men  to  fast  —  and 
thy  Father  which  seeth  in  secret,  shall  reward  thee  openly. 

4.  When  God  has  manifested  himself  merciful, 
in  any  sudden,  great,  or  distinguished  manner,  to 
a  person  or  people,  they  are  commanded  to  devote 
some  time  to  solemn  thanksgiving.  Individuals, 
families,  societies,  congregations,  churches,  and 
nations,  may  appoint  times  of  fasting  and  thanks- 
giving, and,  such  appointments  being  lawfully  made, 
should  be  carefully  observed. 


OATHS    AND    COVENANTS.  103 

Neh.  xi.  17.  And  Mattaniah  —  was  the  principal  to  begin 
the  thanksgivhig  in  prayer.  Chap.  xii.  43.  Also  that  day 
they  offered  great  sacrifices  and  rejoiced.  Ps.  cxvi.  17.  I  will 
offer  to  thee  the  sacrifice  of  thanksgiving,  and  will  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "  That  any  part  of  time  is  appointed  in  Divine 
Eevelation,  or  may  be  appointed  by  the  church,  to 
be  kept  holy,  in  its  weekly,  monthly,  or  annual 
returns,  except  the  first  day  of  the  week,  which  is 
the  Christian  Sabbath. 

2.  "That  fasting  is  not  an  ordinance  of  the  New 
Testament  dispensation,  but  of  the  Old  only. 

3.  "  That  civil  rulers  can  have  no  right  to  call 
the  nation  to  public  fasting  or  thanksgiving. 

4.  "  That  it  is  superstition  for  a  Christian  congre- 
gation to  examine  themselves  with  humiliation  and 
fasting,  previously  to  their  sealing  their  covenant 
with  God  in  the  Lord's  Supper." 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

OF   OATHS   AND   COVENANTS. 

1.  It  is  lawful  under  the  New  Testament,  as 
well  as  under  the  Old,  to  take  an  oath  in  cases  of 
importance.  The  name  of  God  only  is  that  by 
which  men  ought  to  swear,  and  it  is  to  be  used 


104  OATHS    AND    COVENANTS. 

with  all  holy  fear  and  reverence.  No  man  is  to  be 
admitted  to  make  oath,  or  to  administer  oaths  in  an 
official  character,  unless  he  appear  to  know  and  fear 
God,  and  to  understand  the  nature  of  an  oath. 

Deut.  vi.  13.  Thou  shalt  fear  the  Lord  —  and  shalt  swear  by 
bis  name.  Heb.  vi.  16.  For  men  verily  swear  by  the  greater, 
and  an  oath  for  confirmation  is  to  them  an  end  of  all  strife. 
Ex.  XX.  7.  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God 
in  vain ;  for  the  Lord  will  hot  hold  him  guiltless  that  taketh 
his  name  in  vain. 

2.  Swearing  is  an  act  of  religious  worship,  which 
even  a  private  person  may  voluntarily  perform,  or 
require  another  to  perform,  when  a  matter  of  im- 
portance exists,  as  a  call  in  Providence  thereunto ; 
but  it  is  proper,  in  order  to  prevent  the  abuse  of 
this  ordinance,  that  the  administration  of  oaths  in 
matters  which  relate  to  social  transactions,  should  be 
exclusively  committed  to  such  civil  or  ecclesiastical 
officers  as  may  explain  the  nature  of  an  oath,  ad- 
minister it  with  suitable  solemnity,  and  secure  to 
the  deposition  its  proper  influence. 

Eccles.  ix.  2.  The  good — the  sinner  —  he  that  sweareth  — 
he  that  feareth  an  oath.  Deut.  vi.  13.  Thou  shalt  fear  the 
Lord  —  and  shalt  swear  by  his  name.  Gen.  xiv.  22.  I  have 
lifted  up  mine  hand  unto  the  Lord,  the  most  high  God.  2  Cor. 
xi.  31.  The  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  —  know- 
eth  that  I  lie  not.  Judges  viii.  19.  As  the  Lord  liveth,  if  ye 
had  saved  them  alive,  I  would  not  slay  you.  Josh.  ii.  12. 
Swear  unto  me  by  the  Lord.  Judges  xv.  12.  Swear  unto  me 
that  ye  will  not  fall  upon  me  yourselves.  Gen.  xlvii.  31.  And 
he  said,  Swear  unto  me.     And  he  sware  unto  him.     Ex.  xxii. 


OATHS    AND    COVENANTS.  105 

9.  For  all  manner  of  trespass  —  the  cause  of  both  parties 
shall  come  before  the  judges.  11.  Then  shall  an  oath  of  the 
Lord  be  between  them  both.  1  Kings  viii.  31.  If  any  man 
trespass  against  his  neighbor  — -  and  the  oath  come  before 
thine  altar,  32.  Then  hear  thou  in  heaven  and  do  and  judge. 
Num.  V.19.  And  the  priest  shall  charge  her  by  an  oath.  Heb. 
vi.  16.  And  an  oath  for  confirmation  is  to  them  an  end  of 
all  strife. 

3.  An  oath  ought  not  to  be  withheld  when  it  is 
required  by  a  morally  canstituted  civil  or  ecclesias- 
tical authority,  or  when  a  cause  of  importance  de- 
pends on  it,  provided  there  be  nothing  sinful  con- 
nected wdth  it.  The  Christian  is  nevertheless  to 
take  care,  that  he  testify  to  the  world  ;  that  al- 
though he  makes  oath  before  men,  he  is  not  to 
be  understood  as  holding  communion,  in  this  sol- 
emn act  of  religious  worship,  with  unqualified  ad- 
ministrators, and  that  on  no  account  he  conform  to 
the  superstitious  practice  of  kissing  the  book. 

Deut.  xix.  15.  At  the  mouth  of  two  witnesses,  or  at  the 
mouth  of  three  witnesses,  shall  the  matter  be  established.  17. 
Then,  both  the  men,  between  whom  the  controversy  is,  shall 
stand  before  the  Lord,  before  the  priests  and  the  judges  w^hich ' 
shall  be  in  those  days.  Matt,  xviii.  16.  Take  with  thee  one 
or  two  more,  that  in  the  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses, 
every  word  may  be  established.  17;  Tell  it  unto  the  church. 
18.  \yhatsoever  ye  shall  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in 
heaven.  Heb.  vi.  16.  And  an  oath  for  confirmation  is  to  them 
an  end  of  all  strife.  Gen.  xxi.  23.  Now,  therefore,  swear  unto 
me  here  by  God,  that  thou  wilt  not  deal  filsely  with  me.  24. 
And  Abraham  said,  I  will  swear.  Chap.  xxiv.  37.  And  my 
master  made  me  swear.  Chap.  1.  5.  My  father  made  me  swear. 
1  Sam.  XX.  17.  And  Jonathan  caused  David  to  swear.    Jer. 


106  OATHS    AND    COVENANTS. 

iv.  2.  And  thou  shalt  swear -^  in  truth,  in  judgment,  and  in 
righteousness.  Rev.  x.  5.  Lifted  up  his  hand  to  heaven,  6. 
And  sware  by  him  that  hveth  forever  and  ever.  Jer.  xxiii. 
10.  Because  of  swearing  the  land  mourneth.  11.  For  both 
prophet  and  priest  are  profane.  2.  Cor.  vi.  14.  For  what  fel- 
lowship hath  righteousness  with  unrighteousness?  15.  Or 
what  part  hath  he  that  believeth  with  an  infidel?  17.  Where- 
fore, come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate.  Hosea 
xiii.  2.  Let  the  men  that  sacrifice,  kiss  the  calves. 

4.  A  vow,  or  religious,  covenant,  is  of  the  like 
nature  v^ith  a  promissory  oath,  whereby  we  bind 
ourselves,  either  individually  or  collectively  to  ne- 
cessary duties,  or  to  other  things  not  forbidden,  so 
far  and  so  long  as  they  conduce  thereunto.  It  is 
an  ordinance  of  God,  which  is  to  be  attended  to  on 
special  occasions  under  the  New  Testament  dispen- 
sation, as  well  as  under  the  Old,  by  individuals  and 
societies,  by  churches  and  nations. 

Num.  XXX.  2.  If  a  man  vow  a  vow  unto  the  Lord,  or  swear 
an  oath  to  bind  his  soul  with  a  bond ;  he  shall  not  break  his 
word.  Ps.  Ixxvi.  11.  Vow  and  pay  unto  the  Lord  your  God. 
Ex.  xix.  5.  Now,  therefore,  if  ye  will  obey  my  voice  indeed, 
and  keep  my  covenant,  then  ye  shall  be  a  peculiar  treasure 
unto  me,  above  all  people.  8.  And  all  the  people  answered 
together  and  said,  All  that  the  Lord  hath  spoken  we  will  do. 
Deut.  xxiii.  23.  A  freewill-offering,  according  as  thou  hast 
vowed  unto  the  Lord  thy  God.  Is.  xix.  21.  Yea,  they  shall  vow 
a  vow  unto  the  Lord.  Chap.  xliv.  5.  One  shall  say,  I  am  the 
Lord's  ;  and  another  shall  call  himself  by  the  iiame  of  Jacob; 
and  another  shall  subscribe  with  his  hand  to  the  Lord,  and 
surname  himself  by  the  name  of  Israel.  Chap.  Ixii.  4.  Thou 
shalt  be  called  Hephzibah,  and  thy  land  Beulah  :  for  the  Lord 
delighteth  in  thee,  and  thy  land  shall  be  married.  Zech.  xiii. 
9.  It  is  my  people :  and  they  shall  say,  The  Lord  is  my  God. 


OATHS    AND    COVENANTS.  107 

Heb.  viii.  7.  If  that  first  covenant  had  been  faultless.  8.  I 
will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel,  and  with 
the  house  of  Judah.  10.  I  will  be  to  them  a  God,  and  they 
shall  be  to  me  a  people.  Jer.  1.  5.  Come,  and  let  us  join  our- 
selves to  the  Lord  in  a  perpetual  covenant.  Rev.  xi.  15.  The 
kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord 
and  of  his  Christ. 

5.  Covenants  entered  into  by  an  individual  or  a 
community,  continue  binding  upon  those  who  enter 
into  them,  either  personally  or  by  their  representa- 
tives, so  long  as  such  persons  live,  unless  the  cove- 
nants have  limited  their  own  duration  to  a  certain 
other  period.  The  covenant  obligation  is  admitted 
and  sanctioned  by  God,  as  distinct  from  any  pre- 
vious obligation  arising  from  the  divine  law ;  but 
no  vow  or  covenant  of  man  can  bind  to  anything 
contrary  to  the  law  of  God. 

Eccles.  V.  4.  When  thou  vowest  a  vow  unto  God,  defer  not 
to  pay  it.  5.  Better  it  is  that  thou  shouldest  not  vow,  than 
that  thou  shouldest  vow,  and  not  pay.  Jer.  xi.  10.  The  house 
of  Israel,  and  the  house  of  Judah,  have  broken  my  covenant 
which  I  made  with  their  fathers.  Deut.  xxiii.  21.  When  thou 
shalt  vow  a  vow  unto  the  Lord  thy  God,  thou  shalt  not  slack 
to  i^ay  it ;  for  the  Lord  thy  God  will  surely  require  it  of  thee ; 
and  it  would  be  a  sin  in  thee.  22.  But  if  thou  shalt  forbear 
to  vow,  it  shall  be  no  sin  in  thee.  Psalm  Ixv.  1.  Praise  wait- 
eth  for  thee,  O  God,  in  Zion,  and  unto  thee  shall  the  vow  be 
performed. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "That  profane  swearing  is  not  a  heinous 
crime. 


108  MARRIAGE. 

2.  "That  it  is  unlawful  to  make  oath  on  any 
account. 

3.  '*  That  any  oath  may  be  taken  with  a  mental 
reservation,  or  in  anv  other  sense  than  the  cfbvious 
meaning  of  the  words. 

4.  "  That  irreligious  men  may  be  appointed  as 
the  official  administrators  of  the  religious  ordi- 
nance of  swearing. 

5.  "That  religious  covenanting  is  not  a  duty  in 
New  Testament  times. 

6.  "  That  it  is  unlawful  for  any  civil  society  to 
enter  into  covenant  with  God. 

7.  "  That  no  covenant  into  which  any  society 
enters,  can  be  obligatory  upon  any  of  the  members 
of  that  society,  who  did  not  personally  subscribe 
such  covenant." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

OE  MARRIAGE. 

1.  Marriage  is  an  ordinance  of  God,  instituted 
in  the  law  of  nature,  and  recognized  in  Divine 
Revelation.  It  is  an  agreement  between  one  man 
and  one  woman  only,  in  which  the  parties  solemnly 
vow  and  covenant,  that  they  will  faithfully  perform 
all  the  duties  belonging  to  it. 

Matt.  xix.  4.  Have  ye  not  read,  that  he  which  made  them 
at  the  beginning,  made  them  male  and  female ;  5.  And  said, 


MARRIAGE.  109 

For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  father  and  mother,  and  shall 
cleave  to  his  wife :  and  they  twain  shall  be  one  flesh. 

2.  Marriage  was  ordained  for  the  mutual  help  of 
husband  and  wife  —  the  population  of  the  world 
with  a  legitimate  offspring — the  increase  and  build- 
ing up  the  church  with  a  holy  seed  —  and  the  pre- 
vention of  uncleanness ;  and  is  common  to  all  sorts 
of  people. 

Gen.  ii.  18.  It  is  not  good  that  the  man  should  be  alone ;  I 
will  make  him  a  help  meet  for  him.  Chap.  i.  28.  Be  fruitful 
and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth.  1  Cor.  vii.  2.  To  avoid 
fornication,  let  every  man  have  his  own  wife,  and  let  every 
woman  have  her  own  husband.  14.  For  tlie  unbelieving  hus- 
band is  sanctified  by  the  wife ;  and  the  unbelieving  wife  is  sanc- 
tified by  the  husband;  else  were  your  children  unclean;  but 
now  they  are  holy.    Heb.  xiii.  4.  Marriage  is  honorable  in  all. 

3.  For  obtaining  these  important  ends,  the  par- 
ties ought  not  only  to  marry  in  the  Lord,  but  are 
bound  also  to  cultivate  mutual  love,  bear  witb,  and 
cover  each  other's  infirmities,  keep  the  marriage 
oath  inviolate,  cheerfully  submit  to  the  yoke  of  reli- 
gion, and  carefully  avoid  all  mutual  recrimination. 

1  Cor.  vii.  39.  She  is  at  liberty  to  be  married  to  whom  she 
will;  only  in  the  Lord.  3.  Let  tlie  husbaud  render  unto  the 
w^ife  due  benevolence  :  and  likewise  also  the  wife  unto  the  hus- 
band. 4.  The  wife  hath  not  power  of  her  own  body,  but  the 
husband :  and  likewise  also  the  husband  hath  not  power  of 
his  own  body,  but  the  wife.  Col.  iii.  19.  Husbands,  love  your 
wives,  and  be  not  bitter  against  them.  1  Pet.  iii.  1.  Likewise, 
ye  wives,  be  in  subjection  to  your  own  husbands  ;  —  won  by 
the  conversation  of  the  wives ;  2.  While  they  behold  your 
chaste  conversation  coupled  with  fear — 4.  The  ornament  of 
a  meek  and  quiet  spirit. 


110  MARRUGE. 

4.  Marrlaore  oiio-ht  not  to  be  contracted  within 
the  degrees  of  consanguinity,  or  affinity,  prohibited 
in  the  word  of  God;  nor  can  any  law  of  man  or 
consent  of  parties  legitimate  such  incestuous  con- 
nections. 

Lev.  xviii.  24.  Defile  not  ye  yourselves  in  any  of  these 
thing's,  for  in  all  these  the  nations  are  defiled  whicli  I  cast 
out  before  you.  26.  Ye  shall  therefore  keep  my  statutes  and 
my  judgments,  and  shall  not  commit  any  of  these  abomina- 
tions :  neither  any  of  your  nation,  nor  any  stranger  that 
sojourneth  among  you. 

5.  Though  the  validity  of  marriage  depends  upon 
the  mutual  vow  of  the  parties,  independently  of 
official  administration,  yet,  in  order  to  prevent  rash 
and  inconsiderate  connections,  and  that  the  parties 
may  be  duly  impressed  with  the  solemnity  of  the 
ordinance,  and  with  the  importance  of  its  duties, 
the  celebration  of  it  should  be  exclusively  com- 
mitted unto  duly  qualified  ecclesiastical  or  civil 
officers. 

Matt.  xix.  6.  Wherefore  they  are  no  more  twain,  but  one 
flesh.  Neh.  xiii.  25.  And  I  contended  with  them  —  and  made 
them  swear  by  God,  saying.  Ye  shall  not  give  your  daughters 
unto  their  sons  ;  nor  take  their  daughters  unto  your  sons,  or 
for  yourselves.  26.  Did  not  Solomon,  king  of  Israel,  sin  by 
these  things ;  even  him  did  outlandish  women  cause  to  sin. 
1  Cor.  vii.  39.  She  is  at  liberty  to  be  married  to  whom  she 
will ;  only  in  the  Lord.  Chap.  x.  31.  Whether,  therefore,  ye 
eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God. 

6.  As  the  good  order  of  society,  the  honor  and 
peace  of  families,  as  well  as  the  interest  of  religion, 


MARRIAGE.  Ill 

are  greatly  promoted  by  the  regular  administration 
of  marriage,  the  civil  magistrate  ought  to  provide, 
that  the  ordinance  be,  duly  respected — sanction 
the  manner  of  its  celebration  —  enjoin  and  enforce 
its  duties,  and  when  the  case  requires  it,  conduct 
the  process  of  divorce  in  a  public  and  regular 
manner. 

Deut.  xxiv.  1.  When  a  man  hath  taken  a  wife  and  married 
her,  and  it  come  to  pass  that  she  find  no  favor  in  his  eyes, 
because  he  hath  found  some  uncleanness  in  lier,  then  let  him 
write  her  a  bill  of  divorcement  —  4.  Her  former  husband, 
which  sent  her  away,  may  not  take  her  again  to  be  his  wife  — 
thou  shalt  not  cause  the  land  to  sin,  which  tlie  Lord  thy  God 
giveth  thee  for  an  inheritance.  Chap.  xxii.  16.  And  the 
damsel's  father  shall  say  unto  the  elders  of  the  city,  I  gave 
my  daughter  unto  this  man  to  wife.  17.  And  lo,  he  hath 
given  occasion  of  speech  against  her. .  18.  And  the  elders  of 
that  city  shall  take  that  man  and  chastise  him. 

7.  Though  the  marriage  covenant  is  not  dis- 
solved by  every  argument  which  the  corruption  of 
man,  excited  by  passion  and  disappointment,  may 
produce,  to  separate  those  whom  God  hath  joined  ; 
yet  either  adultery,  or  such  wilful  desertion  as 
admits  of  no  civil  remedy,  is  a  sufficient  cause  for 
its  dissolution.  And  after  the  divorce  has  been 
regularly  obtained  from  the  ecclesiastical  or  civil 
authority,  it  is  lawful  for  the  innocent  party  to 
marry  another  as  if  the  offending  party  were  dead. 

Matt.  xix.  3.  Is  it  lawful  for  a  man  to  put  away  his  wife  for 
every  cause  ?  6.  They  are  no  more  twain,  but  one  flesh. 
What  therefore  God  hath  joined  together,  let  not  man  put 
asunder.     9.  Whosoever  shall  put  away  his  wife,  except  it  be 


112  CIVIL    GOVERNMENT. 

for  fornication,  and  shall  marry  another,  committeth  adultery. 
1  Cor.  vii.  15.  But  if  the  unbelieving  depart,  let  him  depart. 
A  brother  or  a  sister  is  not  under  bondage  in  such  a  case. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "  That  polygamy  is  in  any  case  lawful. 

2.  "  That  vows  of  celibacy  may  be  lawfully 
entered  into  by  any  description  of  men  or  women. 

3.  "  That  the  clergy  may  not  marry. 

4.  "  That  a  man  may  marry  any  of  his  wife's 
kindred  nearer  in  blood  than  he  may  of  his  own. 

5.  "  That  a  woman  may  marry  any  of  her  hus- 
band's kindred  nearer  in  blood  than  she  may  of 
her  own. 

6.  "That  divorce  is  lawful  in  any  case,  except 
adultery  and  wilful  desertion." 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

OF  CIVIL  GOVEKNMENT. 

1.  It  is  the  will  of  God,  revealed  by  the  consti- 
tution of  human  nature,  and  more  clearly  in  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  that  his  rational  creatures,  living 
together  in  one  part  of  the  world,  and  connected 
by  a  common  interest,  and  by  common  duties, 
should  enter  into  a  civil  association,  for  the  better 
preservation  of  peace  and  order,  in  subserviency  to 
godliness  and  honesty. 


CIVIL    GOVERNMENT.  113 

1  Cor.  xi.  14.  Doth  not  even  nature  itself  teach  you  ?  Gen. 
1.  7.  All  the  elders  *  of  the  land  of  Egypt.  Ex.  iii.  16.  Go 
and  gather  the  elders  of  Israel  together.  1  Sam.  xvi.  4.  And 
the  elders  of  the  town  trembled  at  his  coming.  Exod.  xviii. 
19.  Hearken  now  unto  my  voice,  I  will  give  thee  counsel,  and 
God  shall  be  with  thee.  21.  Thou  shalt  provide  out  of  all  the 
people,  able  men,  such  as  fear  God,  men  of  truth,  hating  cov- 
etousness.  22.  And  let  them  judge  the  people.  23.  And  all 
this  people  shall  also  go  to  their  place  in  peace.  Is.  xxxii. 
17.  And  the  work  of  righteousness  shall  be  peace.  18.  And 
my  people  shall  dwell  in  a  peaceable  habitation  ;  and  in  sure 
dwelhngs,  and  in  quiet  resting-places.  Rom.  xii.  17.  Provide 
things  honest  in  the  sight  of  all  men.  18.  As  much  as  lieth 
in  you,  live  peaceably  with  all  men.  1  Tim.  ii.  2.  For  kings 
and  all  that  are  in  authority :  that  we  may  lead  a  quiet  and 
peaceable  life,  in  all  godliness  and  honesty.  Rom.  xiii.  2. 
Whosoever,  therefore,  resisteth  the  power,  resisteth  the  ordi- 
nance of  God. 

2.  It  is  the  duty  of  all  men  Voluntarily  to  form 
civil  societies,  establishing  such  authority  Jis  may 
best  tend  to  preserve  order,  liberty,  and  religion 
among  them ;  and  it  is  lawful  for  them  to  model 
their  constitutions  of  government  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  may  appear  most  suitable  to  them,  provided 
such  constitutions,  in  their  principles  and  distribu- 
tion of  power,  be  in  nothing  contrary  to  the  divine 
law. 

Prov.  xxi.  3.  To  do  justice  and  judgment  is  more  acceptable 
to  the  Lord  than  sacrifice.  Ezek.  xiv.  9.  Remove  violence 
and  spoil,  and  execute  judgment  and  justice,  take  away  your 
exactions  from  my  people,  saith  the  Lord.  Deut.  i.  13.  Take 
you  wise  men,  and  understanding,  and  known  among  your 

*  Rulers. 
8 


114  CIVIL    GOVERNMENT. 

tribes,  and  I  will  make  them  rulers  over  you.  14.  And  he 
answered  me  and  said,  The  thing  which  thou  hast  spoken  is 
good  for  us  to  do.  Chap.  xvi.  18.  Judges  and  officers  shalt 
tliou  make  thee  in  all  thy  gates.  Ezek.  xxx.  21.  And  their 
governor  shall  proceed  from  the  midst  of  them  —  this  that 
engaged  his  heart  to  approach  unto  me.  22.  And  ye  shall 
be  my  people,  and  I  will  be  your  God.  1  Tim.  ii.  2.  That  we 
may  lead  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life  in  all  godliness  and  honesty. 
Deuv,.  xvii.  14.  When  thou  art  come  unto  the  land  —  and 
shalt  dwell  therein,  and  shalt  say,  I  will  set  a  king  over  me. 
15.  Thou  slialt  in  any  wise  set  him  king  over  thee  whom  the 
Lord  thy  God  shall  choose  —  Thou  mayest  not  set  a  stranger 
over  thee.  16.  But  he  shall  not  multiply  horses  to  himself; 
17.  Neither  shall  he  multiply  wives  —  neither  silver  and  gold : 
20.  That  his  heart  be  not  lifted  up  above  his  brethren,  and 
that  he  turn  not  aside  from  the  commandment. 

3.  God,  the  supreme  Governor,  is  the  fountain 
of  all  power  and  authority,  and  civil  magistrates 
are  his  deputies.  In  the  administration  of  govern- 
ment, obedience  is  due  to  their  lawful  commands 
for  conscience'  sake;  but  no  power,  which  deprives 
the  subject  of  civil  liberty  —  which  wantonly 
squanders  his  propert}^  and  sports  with  his  life  — 
or  which  authorizes  false  religion  (however  it  may 
exist  according  to  divine  Providence)  —  is  approved 
of,  or  sanctioned  by  God,  or  ought  to  be  esteemed 
or  supported  by  man  as  a  moral  institution. 

Rom.  xiii.  1.  There  is  no  power  but  of  God.  4.  He  is  the 
minister  of  God  to  thee  for  good.  5.  Wherefore,  ye  must 
needs  be  subject,  not  only  for  wrath,  but  also  for  conscience' 
sake.  Prov.  xxix.  2.  When  the  righteous  are  in  authority, 
the  people  rejoice :  but  when  the  wicked  beareth  rule,  the 
people   mourn.     Chap,  xxviii.  15.  As    a   roaring   lion,  and   a 


CIVIL    GOVERNMENT.  115 

raging  bear ;  so  is  a  wicked  ruler.  Psalm  xciv.  20.  Shall  the 
throne  of  iniqidty  have  fellowship  wdth  thee  ?  Psalm  ii.  2. 
The  kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves,  and  the  rulers  take 
counsel  against  the  Lord.  Hos.  viii.  3.  Israel  hath  cast  off 
the  thing  that  is  good.  4.  They  have  set  up  kings,  but  not 
by  me.  Rev.  xiii.  1.  And  saw  a  beast  rise  up  out  of  the  sea, 
having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns  —  and  the  dragon  gave  him 
his  power,  and  his  seat,  and  great  authority.  Chap.  xii.  9. 
The  dragon  —  that  old  serpent,  called  the  devil  and  Satan. 
Chap.  xvii.  12.  The  ten  horns  which  thou  sawest  are  ten  kings 
—  receive  power  as  kings  one  hour  with  the  beast.  14.  These 
shall  make  war  with  the  Lamb.  17.  For  God  hath  put  in 
their  hearts  to  fulfil  his  will,  and  to  agree  and  give  their  king- 
dom unto  the  beast. 

4.  God,  who  in  his  holy  providence  makes 
even  the  lurath  of  inan  to  praise  him,  sometimes 
manages  the  magistrates  which  are  over  heathen 
and  other  wicked  nations,  balancing  their  ambition, 
their  interest,  and  their  power  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  maintain  some  degree  of  peace  and  safety  in  the 
empire,  and  sometimes  makes  use  of  them,  as  a 
scourge  to  punish  guilty  sinners  for  their  rebellion 
against  the  King  of  heaven. 

Ps.  Ixxxii.  1.  God  standeth  in  the  congregation  of  the 
mighty ;  he  judgeth  among  the  gods.  Ixxv.  7.  He  putteth 
down  one,  and  setteth  up  another.  Is.  xlv.  1.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  to  his  anointed,  to  Cyrus,  5.  I  girded  thee,  though  thou 
hast  not  known  me.  1-3.  He  shall  build  my  city,  and  he  shall 
let  go  my  captives,  not  for  price  or  reward.  Jer.  xxix.  7.  And 
seek  the  peace  of  the  city  —  for  in  the  peace  thereof  shall  ye 
have  peace.  Ezra  ix.  7.  For  our  iniquities  have  we  —  been 
delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  kings  of  the  lands.  Neh.  ix.  37. 
The  kings  whom  thou  hast  set  over  us  because  of  our  sins. 


116  "  CIVIL    GOVERNMENT. 

5.  It  is  lawful  for  Christians  residing  in  nations 
in  which  the  light  of  the  gospel  has  not  been  gen- 
erally diffused,  to  continue  in  submission  to  such 
authority  as  may  exist  over  them,  agreeably  to  the 
law  of  nature,  which,  where  revelation  does  not 
exist,  is  the  only  standard  of  civil  duty.  In  such 
cases  the  infidelity  of  the  ruler  cannot  make  void 
the  just  authority  conferred  upon  him  by  the  con- 
stitution. 

1  Pet.  ii.  12.  Having  your  conversation  honest  among  the 
Gentiles.  13.  Submit  yourselves  to  every  ordinance  of  man 
for  the  Lord's  sake.  16.  As  free,  and  not  using  your  liberty 
for  a  cloak  of  maliciousness.  Rom.  ii.  14.  For  when  the  Gen- 
tiles, which  have  not  the  law,  do  by  nature  the  things  con- 
tained in  the  law,  these  having  not  the  law,  are  a  law  unto 
themselves.  Jonah  iii.  7.  And  he  caused  it  to  be  proclaimed 
and  published  through  Nineveh,  by  the  decree  of  the  king 
and  his  nobles.  10.  And  God  repented  him  of  the  evil  that 
he  had  said  that  he  would  do  unto  them ;  and  he  did  it  not. 

6.  Christian  rulers  appointed  to  office  according 
to  a  righteous  civil  constitution,  have  authority 
from  God  to  rule  in  subserviency  to  the  kingdom 
of  Christ,  and  are  to  be  conscientiously  supported 
by  the  persons,  the  property,  and  the  prayers  of  the 
ruled,  in  the  maintenance  of  the  peace,  the  safety, 
and  the  honor  of  the  nation. 

Ps.  ii.  10.  Be  wise  now,  therefore,  O  ye  kings ;  be  instructed, 
ye  judges  of  the  earth.  11.  Serve  the  Lord  with  fear.  12. 
Kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be  angry.  Ps.  Ixxii.  11.  Yea,  all  kings 
shall  fill  down  before  him,  all  nations  shall  serve  him.  Dan. 
vii.  14.  And  there  was  given  him  dominion,  and  glory,  and  a 
kingdom,  that  all  people,  nations,  and  languages  should  serve 


CIVIL    GOVERNMENT.  117 

him.  And  all  dominions  shall  serve  him  and  obey  him.  Prov. 
viii.  15.  By  me  kings  reign,  and  princes  decree  justice.  Rom. 
xiii.  4.  He  is  the  minister  of  God  to  thee  for  good.  6.  Where- 
fore, ye  must  needs  be  subject,  not  only  for  wrath,  but  also 
for  conscience'  sake.  7.  Render,  therefore,  to  all  their  dues  ; 
tribute,  to  whom  tribute  ;  fear,  to  whom  fear ;  honor  to  whom 
honor. 

7.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Christian  magistrate  to 
take  order,  that  open  blasphemy  and  idolatry,  licen- 
tiousness and  immorality,  be  suppressed,  and  that 
the  church  of  Christ  be  supported  throughout  the 
commonwealth;  and  for  the  better  discharge  of 
these  important  duties,  it  is  lawful  for  him  to  call 
synods,  in  order  to  consult  with  them;  to  be  present 
at  them,  not  interfering  with  their  proceedings  (un- 
less they  become  manifestly  seditious  and  danger- 
ous to  the  peace),  but  supporting  the  independency 
of  the  church,  and  its  righteous  decisions,  and  pre- 
serving its  unity  and  order  against  the  attempts 
of  such  despisers  of  ecclesiastical  authority  as 
should  endeavor,  in  a  riotous  manner,  to  disturb 
their  proceedings. 

Rom.  xiii.  4.  For  he  beareth  not  the  sword  in  vain :  for  he 
is  the  minister  of  God,  a  revenger  to  execute  wrath  upon  him 
that  doeth  evil.  Lev.  xxiv.  16.  And  he  that  blasphemeth  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death.  2  Chron. 
xiv.  2.  And  Asa  did  that  which  was  good  and  right.  3.  He 
took  away  the  altars  of  the  strange  gods,  aud  the  high  places, 
and  brake  down  their  images.  Rev.  xvii.  16.  These  shall  hate 
the  whore,  and  shall  make  her  desolate  and  naked,  and  shall 
eat  her  flesh,  and  burn  her  with  fire.  Prov.  xx.  26.  A  wise 
king  scattereth  the  wicked.     Ps.  ci.  8.  I  will  early  destroy  all 


118  CIVIL    GOVERNMENT. 

the  wicked  of  the  land.  Pro  v.  xiv.  34.  Righteousness  exnlt- 
eth  a  nation :  but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any  people.  Chap.  xvi. 
12.  The  throne  is  established  by  righteousness.  Is.  xlix.  23. 
Kings  shall  be  tliy  nursing  fathers.^  Chap.  Ix.  10.  Kings 
shall  minister  unto  thee.  12.  For  the  nation  and  kingdom 
that  will  not  serve  thee  shall  perish.  Chap.  Ixii.  4.  And  thy 
land  shall  be  married.  2  Sam,  xxiii.  3.  He  that  ruleth  over 
men  must  be  just,  ruling  in  the  fear  of  God.  2  Chron.  xxix. 
2.  And  he  did  right  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord.  4.  And  he 
brought  in  the  priests  and  the  Levites,  and  gathered  them  to- 
gether. 15.  And  they  gathered  their  brethren,  and  sanctified 
themselves,  and  came,  according  to  the  commandment  of  the 
king,  by  the  words  of  the  Lord,  to  cleanse  the  house  of  the 
Lord.  Chap.  xxx.  22.  And  Hezekiah  spake  comfortably  unto 
all  the  Levites,  that  taught  the  good  knowledge  of  the  Lord. 
Rev.  xxi.  24.  And  the  kings  of  the  earth  do  bring  their  glory 
and  honor  into  it.  Dan.  vii.  22.  And  the  time  came  that  the 
saints  possessed  the  kingdom.  1  Cor.  x.  31.  Whatsoever  ye 
do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God.  Ps.  cxxxvii.  5.  If  I  forget  thee, 
O  Jerusalem,  let  ray  right  hand  forget  her  cunning,  cxxii.  7. 
Peace  be  within  thy  walls,  and  prosperity  within  thy  palaces. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "  That  Civil  Government  is  not  an  ordinance 
of  God. 

2.  "  That  Christians  owe  no  allegiance  to  civil 
authority. 

3.  "  That  Civil  Government  is  founded  in  grace. 

4.  . "  That  the  Scripture  Revelation  is  not  the 
rule  by  which  Christians  should  direct  their  civil 
conduct. 

5.  "  That  the  magistrate,  as  such,  has  nothing  to 

*  Nourishers. 


DISSENT    FROM    CIVIL    GOVERNMENT.  119 

do  with  the  Christian  religion,  nor  the  minister  a 
right  to  examine  the  policy  of  nations,  and  teach 
civil  duties. 

6.  "  That  Christians  are  bound  to  cherish,  as  the 
ordinance  of  God,  all  those  who  may  be  exalted  in 
providence  to  power  in  a  nation,  although  they  may 
be  tyrants  and  usurpers,  and  bound  by  an  oath  to 
give  their  power  unto  the  beast,  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  false  religion. 

7.  "  That  it  is  lawful  for  civil  rulers  to  authorize 
the  purchase  and  sale  of  any  part  of  the  human 
family  as  slaves. 

8.  "That  a  constitution  of  government,  which 
deprives  unoffending  men  of  liberty  and  property, 
is  a  moral  institution,  to  be  recognized  as  God's 
ordinance." 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

OF   THE   RIGHT  OF   DISSENT  FROM  A  CONSTITUTION  OF 
CIVIL  GOVERNMENT. 

1.  Civil  society  being  a  voluntary  association,  the 
nation  is  not  bound  to  admit  to  all  its  peculiar  priv- 
ileges every  person  who  may  reside  within  the 
reach  of  its  power ;  nor  is  every  person  dwelling 
within  the  limits  of  a  nation  under  oblig^ation  to 
incorporate  with  the  national  society.  Every  gov- 
ernment has  the  right  of  making  laws  of  natiiraliza- 
tion,  and    every  individual   possesses  the  right  of 


120  DISSENT    FROM    CIVIL    GOVERNMENT. 

expatriation ;  and  both  these  rights  are  to  be  exer- 
cised in  conformity  to  the  law  of  God,  the  supreme 
Ruler  and  Judge. 

Gen.  xlvii.  4.  For  to  sojourn  in  the  land  are  we  come.  Now, 
therefore,  we  pray  thee,  let  thy  servants  dwell  in  the  land  of 
Goshen.  Num.  x.  29.  And  Moses  said  unto  Hobab  —  Come 
thou  with  us,  and  we  will  do  thee  good.  30.  And  he  said  unto 
him,  I  will  not  go.  Chap.  xv.  15.  One  ordinance  shall  be  both 
for  you  of  the  congregation,  and  also  for  the  stranger  that 
sojourneth  with  you.  Deut.  xxiv.  17.  Thou  shalt  not  pervert 
the  judgment  of  the  stranger.  Deut.  xxiii.  8.  The  children 
that  are  begotten  of  them  shall  enter  into  the  congregation 
of  the  Lord,  in  their  third  generation.  Acts  xxi.  39.  A  citi- 
zen of  no  mean  city.  Chap.  xxii.  27.  Tell  me,  art  thou  a 
Iloman  ?  He  said,  yea.  28.  With  a  great  sum  obtained  I 
this  freedom.  And  Paul  said.  But  I  was  free  born.  James 
iv.  12.  There  is  one  Lawgiver. 

2.  It  is  the  duty  of  Christians,  for  the  sake  of 
peace  and  order,  and  in  humble  resignation  to 
God's  good  providence,  to  conform  to  the  common 
regulations  of  society  in  things  lawful ;  but  to  pro- 
fess allegiance  to  no  constitution  of  government 
which  is  in  hostility  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  the 
Head  of  the  church,  and  the  Prince  of  the  kings  of 
the  earth. 

Jer.  xxix.  4.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel, 
unto  all  that  are  carried  away  captives.  5.  Build  ye  houses 
and  dwell  in  them  ;  and  plant  gardens,  and  eat  the  fruit  of 
them.  6.  Take  ye  wives  and  beget  sons  and  daughters.  7. 
And  seek  the  peace  of  the  city,  whither  I  have  caused  you 
to  be  carried  away  captive,  and  pray  unto  the  Lord  for  it :  for 
in  the  peace  thereof  shall  ye  have  peace.  Ps.  cxxxvii.  1.  By 
the  rivers  of  Babylon,  there  we  sat  down :  yea,  we  wept  when 


DISSENT   FROM    CIVIL    GOVERNMENT.  121 

we  remembered  Zion.  4.  How  shall  we  sing  the  Lord's  song 
in  a  strange  land  ?  6.  Let  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of 
my  mouth,  if  I  prefer  not  Jerusalem  above  my  chief  joy.     8. 

0  daughter  of  Babylon,  who  art  to  be  destroyed.  9.  Happy 
shall  he  be  that  taketh  and  dasheth  thy  little  ones  against  the 
stones.  Acts  iv.  19.  Whether  it  be  right  in  the  sight  of  God 
to  hearken  unto  you,  more  than  unto  God,  judge  ye.  Matt, 
vi.  10.  Thy  kingdom  come.  Heb.  xii.  26.  Yet  once  more  I 
shake  not  the  earth  only,  but  also  heaven.  28.  Wherefore, 
we  receiving  a  kingdom  which  cannot  be  moved.  Micah  iv. 
8.  The  kintrdom  shall  come  to  the  dausrhter  of  Jerusalem. 
13.  Arise,  and  thresh,  O  daughter  of  Zion:  for  I  will  make 
thine  horn  iron,  and  I  will  make  thy  hoofs  brass ;  and  thou 
shalt  beat  in  pieces  many  people :  and  I  will  consecrate  their 
gain  unto  the  Lord,  and  their  substance  unto  the  Lord  of  the 
whole  earth. 

3.  Virtuous  persons,  who,  in  their  private  capa- 
city, are  endeavoring  to  further  the  true  end  of  civil 
government,  the  maintenance  of  peace  and  quietness  in 
all  godliness  and  honest?/,  although  they  dissent  from 
the  constitution  of  civil  government  of  the  nation 
in  which  they  reside,  have  a  right  to  protection  in 
their  lives,  liberties,  and  property,  they  contributing 
their  proportion  of  the  common  taxation  :  but  they 
are  not  to  act  inconsistently  with  their  declared 
dissent,  and  it  would  be  tyranny  to  constrain  them 
to  such  measures. 

Rom.  xiii.  3.  For  rulers  are  not  a  terror  to  good  works,  but 
to  the  evil.  Wilt  thou,  then,  not  be  afraid  of  the  power?  Do 
that  which  is  good,  and  thou  shalt  have  praise  of  the  same. 

1  Tim.  ii.  2.  That  we  may  lead  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life,  in 
all  godliness  and  honesty.  Num.  xv.  16.  One  law  and  one 
manner  shall  be  for  you,  and  for  the  stranger  that  sojounieth 


122  DISSENT    FROM    CIVIL    GOVERNMENT. 

with  you.  Exod.  xxii.  21.  Thou  shalt  neither  vex  a  stranger, 
nor  oj^press  him :  for  ye  were  strangers  in  the  hind  of  Egypt. 
Rom.  ii.  3.  And  thinkest  thou  this,  O  man,  that  judgest  them 
which  do  such  things,  and  doest  the  same,  that  thou  shalt 
escape  the  judgment  of  God?  Jer.  xxi.  12.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord,  Execute  judgment  in  the  morning,  and  deUver  him  that 
is  spoiled  out  of  the  hand  of  the  oppressor.  Est.  iii.  8.  And 
Haman  said  unto  king  Ahasuerus,  There  is  a  certain  people 
scattered  abroad,  and  dispersed  among  the  people  in  all  the 
provinces  of  thy  kingdom ;  and  their  laws  are  diverse  from 
all  people  ;  neither  keep  they  the  king's  laws  ;  therefore,  it  is 
not  for  the  king's  profit  to  suffer  them.  9.  If  it  please  the 
king,  let  it  be  written  that  they  may  be  destroyed. 

4.  Christians  testifying  against  national  evils, 
and  striving  in  the  use  of  moral  means  to  effect  a 
reformation,  should  relinquish  temporal  privileges 
rather  than  do  anything  which  may  appear  to  con- 
tradict their  testimony,  or  lay  a  stumbling-block 
before  their  weaker  brethren. 

1  Kings  xix  9.  And  he  came  thither  unto  a  cave,  and  lodged 
there.  10.  And  he  said,  I  have  been  very  jealous  for  the 
Lord  God  of  hosts :  for  the  children  of  Israel  have  forsaken 
thy  covenant.  Heb.  xi.  24.  By  faith,  Moses,  wb<?n  he  was 
come  to  years,  refused  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daugh- 
ter. 26.  Esteeming  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches 
than  the  treasures  of  Egypt.  36.  And  others  had  trials  of 
cruel  mockings  and  scourgings,  yea,  moreover,  of  bonds  and 
imprisonments.  Num.  xxiii.  9.  Lo,  the  people  shall  dwell 
alone,  and  shall  not  be  reckoned  among  the  nations.  Rom. 
xiv.  21.  It  is  good  neither  to  eat  flesh,  nor  drink  wine,  nor 
anything'  whereby  thy  brother  stumbleth,  or  is  offended. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them : 


CHURCH    DISCIPLINE.  123 

1.  "  That  it  is  lawful  to  profess  or  swear  alle- 
giance to  an  immoral  constitution  of  Civil  Govern- 
ment. 

2.  "  That  Christians,  under  pretence  of  bearing 
an  active  testimony,  are  bound  to  effect  a  change 
in  the  moral  state  of  nations  with  the  sword. 

3.  "  That  it  is  not  lawful  for  Christians  to  wage 
war  in  defence  of  liberty,  religion,  or  life. 

4.  "  That  the  enjoyment  of  no  temporal  priv- 
ileges may  be  relinquished  for  the  sake  of  peace,  or 
for  fear  of  making  a  Christian  brother  to  offend." 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

OF    CHURCH   DISCIPLINE. 

1.  In  the  present  imperfect  state  of  the  visible 
church,  from  the  ungodliness  of  carnal  professors 
of  religion,  and  from  remaining  depravity  even  in 
the  truly  gracious,  offences  or  scandals  must  fre- 
quently arise. 

Matt,  xviii.  7.  For  it  must  needs  be  that  offences  come. 
Rom.  xvi.  17.  Now,  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  mark  them  which 
cause  divisions  and  offences  contrary  to  the  doctrine  which  ye 
have  learned ;  and  avoid  them. 

2.  A  scandal  is  not  everything  which  is  sinful 
or  displeaseth ;  but  something  in  a  professor's  car- 
riage, which  either  in  itself  or  from  its  circumstances, 


124  CHURCH    DISCIPLINE. 

may  tempt  others  to  sin,  expose  the  church  to  just 
reproach,  o^  mar  the  spiritual  comfort  of  the  saints. 

Rom.  vii.  21.  When  I  would  do  good,  evil  is  present  with 
me.  Luke  xvii.  1.  It  is  impossible  but  that  offences  will  come ; 
but  woe  unto  him  through  whom  they  come.  Rom.  xiv.  13. 
Judge  this  rather,  that  no  man  put  a  stumbling -block,*  or  an 
occasion  to  fall,  in  his  brother's  way. 

3.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  hath  instituted  Church 
Discipline,  in  order  to  remove  scandals,  and  pre- 
vent their  unhappy  effects ;  and  no  church  can, 
without  the  faithful  and  spiritual  application  of  it, 
hope  for  his  countenance  and  blessing. 

Matt.  xvi.  19.  And  I  will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  1  Cor.  v.  12.  Do  not  ye  judge  them  that 
are  within?  2  Cor.  x.  8.  Our  authority  which  the  Lord  hath 
given  us  for  edification.  1  Thess.  v.  14.  Warn  them  that  are 
unruly.  Eph.  v.  11.  And  have  no  fellowship  with  the  unfruit- 
ful works  of  darkness,  but  rather  reprove  them.  Rev.  iii.  16. 
So,  then,  because  thou  art  lukewarm,  and  neither  cold  nor  hot, 
I  will  spew  thee  out  of  my  mouth. 

4.  The  impartial  and  prudent  exercise  of  Church 
Discipline  is  useful  for  vindicating  the  honor  of 
Jesus  Christ,  maintaining  the  dignity  of  his  ordi- 
nances, preserving  the  purity  of  the  church,  avert- 
ing the  judgments  of  God,  and  for  the  benefit  of 
the  offender  himself,  that  by  the  administration  of 
this  ordinance  of  Christ,  through  grace,  he  may  be 
humbled  and  recovered. 

Eph.  V.  8.  Now  are  ye  light  in  the  Lord  :  walk  as  children 
of  light.     Matt.  xi.  29.  Take  my  yoke  u^^on  you.     Rom.  xvi. 

*  Scandal. 


VISITATION   AND    CATECHISING.  125 

17.  Mark  them  which  cause  divisions,  contrary  to  the  doctrine 
which  ye  have  learned  ;  and  avoid  thera.  2  Thess.  iii.  6. 
Withdraw  yourselves  from  every  brother  that  walketh  dis- 
orderly, and  not  after  the  tradition  which  he  received  of  us. 
Rev.  ii.  14.  But  I  have  a  few  things  against  thee,  because 
thou  hast  there  them  that  hold  the  doctrine  of  Balaam.  2 
Thess.  iii.  14.  Note  that  man  and  have  no  company  with  him, 
that  he  may  beashamed.  1  Tim.  v.  20.  Them  that  sin  rebuke 
before  all,  that  others  also  may  fear. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors^  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them : 

1.  "  That  the  exercise  of  Church  Discipline  is 
not  a  necessary  part  of  ministerial  duty. 

2.  "That  a  professor  should  be  censured  by  a 
church  judicatory  for  everything  at  which  another 
may  justly  be  displeased." 


CHAPTEE  XXXII. 

OF   MINISTERIAL  VISITATION  AND   CATECHISING. 

1.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  pastor  of  every  Chris- 
tian congregation  to  inspect  the  state  of  his  flock, 
acquaint  himself,  as  much  as  may  be,  with  the 
knowledge,  the  character,  the  disposition,  the  con- 
duct, and  progress  in  spirituality,  of  every  member 
thereof,  in  order  that  he  may  rightly  divide  the 
word  of  truth,  giving  unto  each  his  portion  in  due 
season. 

1  Tim.  iii.  2.  A  bishop  then  must  be  blameless  —  vigilant 
—  apt  to  teach.     2  Tim.  ii.  15.  A  workman  that  needeth  not 


126  VISITATION    AND    CATECHISING. 

to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of  trutli.  iv.  2.  In- 
stant in  season,  out  of  season.  Acts  xx.  28.  Take  heed,  there- 
fore, unto  yourselves,  and  to  all  the  flock  over  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  hath  made  you  overseers. 

2.  He  is  to  visit  them  from  house  to  house,  not 
merely  as  a  friend,  but  as  one  who  watches  for 
their  souls.  In  family  visitation,  the  minister  is 
to  inqirire  how  they  attend  upon  the  duties  of 
personal  and  family  religion,  and  the  various  or- 
dinances of  public  worship,  giving  them  suitable 
exhortations,  and  praying  for  them,  and  with  them. 

Heb.  xiii.  17.  They  watch  for  your  souls,  as  they  that  must 
give  an  account.  Tit.  ii.  2.  That  the  aged  men  be  sober, 
grave,  temperate,- sound  in  faith,  in  charity,  in  patience.  3. 
The  aged  women,  likewise,  that  they  be  in  behavior  as  be- 
cometh  holiness.  4.  That  they  may  teach  the  young  women 
to  be  sober.  6.  Young  men,  likewise,  exhort  to  be  sober- 
minded.  9.  Exhort  servants  to  be  obedient  to  their  own 
masters.  1  Tim.  ii.  8.  I  will,  therefore,  that  men  pray  every- 
where, lifting  up  holy  hands,  without  wrath  and  doubting. 

3.  The  minister  is  to  visit  the  sick  who  are  in- 
capable of  attending  the  public  ordinances,  com- 
forting them  under  their  afflictions,  admonishing 
them  how  they  are  to  improve  such  dispensations 
of  Providence,  exhorting  them  to  prepare  for  death, 
and  praying  for  them,  and  with  them,  as  opportunity 
may  offer,  watching  for  their  souls  until  they  are 
removed  from  beinu;  under  his  chars^e  into  their 
eternal  state.  The  elders  of  the  congregation  are, 
in  their  station,  to  attend  to  the  visitation  of  the 
flock,  with  or  without  the  minister. 


VISITATION   AND    CATECHISING.  127 

Is.  xxvi.  16.  They  poured  out  a  prayer  when  thy  chastening 
was  upon  them.  Matt.  xxv.  36.  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited  me. 
40.  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of 
these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me.  James  i.  27. 
Pure  rehgion  —  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows  in  their 
affliction.  Chap.  v.  13.  Is  any  among  you  afflicted  ?  let  him 
pray.  14.  Is  any  sick  among  you  ?  let  him  call  for  the  elders 
of  the  church;  and  let  them  pray  over  him.  15.  And  tlie 
prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick.  16.  The  effectual  fervent 
prayer  of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much.  Ileb.  xiii.  17.  They 
watch  for  your  souls. 

4.  Catechising,  which  is  a  plain  and  familiar 
way  of  conveying  spiritual  instruction  to  old  and 
young,  according  to  their  respective  capiiciries,  is 
a  necessary  part  of  the  minister's  duty,  and  is  to 
be  performed,  not  for  showing  his  own  talents,  but 
for  ascertaining  and  improving  the  religious  know- 
ledge of  the  catechumens. 

Matt.  xvi.  15.  He  saith  unto  them,  Bat  whom  say  ye  that  I 
am?  Chap.  xxii.  42.  What  think  ye  of  Christ?  Whose  son 
is  he  ?  45.  If  David  then  call  him  Lord,  how  is  he  his  son  ? 
1  Pet.  iii.  15.  Be  ready  always  to  give  an  answer  to  every 
man  that  asketh  you  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  you. 
Acts  viii.  30.  Understandest  thou  what  thou  readest  ?  31. 
And  he  said.  How  can  I,  except  some  man  should  guide  me  ? 
35.  Then  Philip  opened  his  mouth,  and  began  at  the  same 
Scripture,  and  preached  unto  him  Jesus.  37.  If  thou  believest 
with  all  thine  heart,  thou  mayest. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them  : 

1.  "  That  a  minister  may,  in  ordinary  cases,  take 
the  pastoral  charge  of  a  congregation,  to  wliich  it 


128  TESTIMONY    BEARING. 

is  evidently  impossible  he  can  discharge  ministerial 
duties. 

2.  "  That  the  fear  of  giving  offence,  or  the  peo- 
ple's having  been  unaccustomed  to  it,  is  any  excuse 
for  a  minister's  neglect  of  the  duties  of  ministerial 
visitation  or  catechising. 

3.  "  That  ruling  elders  are  not  under  obligation 
to  watch  over  and  promote  the  spiritual  improve- 
ment of  the  flock." 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

OF   TESTIMONY  BEARING. 

1.  Christians  are  witnesses  for  God  among  men ; 
and,  having  in  their  possession  the  testimony  of 
God  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
church  to  apply  the  doctrines  of  inspiration  in 
stating  and  defending  truth,  and  in  condemning  all 
contrary  errors,  bearing  witness  against  all  who 
maintain  them. 

Is.  xliii.  10.  Ye  are  my  witnesses,  saith  the  Lord.  Acts  v. 
32.  And  we  are  his  witnesses  of  these  things.  Chap.  xxvi.  16. 
I  have  appeared  unto  thee  for  this  purpose,  to  make  thee  a 
minister  and  a  witness.  Psalm  Ixxviii.  5.  For  he  estabhshed 
a  testimony  in  Jacob.  1  Cor.  i.  6.  The  testimony  of  Christ 
was  confirmed  in  you.  Chap.  ii.  1.  Declaring  unto  you  the 
testimony  of  God.  Mark  vi.  11.  And  whosoever  shall  not 
receive  you,  nor  hear  you,  when  ye  depart  thence,  shake  off 
the  dust  under  your  feet  for  a  testimony  against  them. 


TESTIMONY    BEARING.  129 

2.  The  testimony  of  the  church  is  progressive, 
in  order  to  oppose  and  condemn  the  novel  errors 
which  each  period  may  produce.  And  every  gen- 
eration is  to  take  care  that  the  truth,  as  stated  and 
defended  by  their  predecessors,  shall  be  maintained 
and  faithfully  transmitted,  together  with  the  result 
of  their  own  contendings,  to  the  succeeding  gen- 
eration. 

2  Thess.  i.  10.  Our  testimony  among  you  was  believed. 
Rev.  xi.  3.  And  I  will  give  power  unto  my  two  witnesses,  and 
they  shall  proj^hesy  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  three-score 
days.  7.  And  when  they  shall  have  finished  their  testimony. 
Ps.  Ixxviii.  5.  For  he  established  a  testimony,  in  Jacob,  and 
appointed  a  law  in  Israel,  which  he  commanded  our  fathers, 
that  they  should  make  them  known  to  their  children  ;  7.  That 
the  generation  to  come  might  know  them,  even  the  children 
which  should  be  born,  who  should  arise  and  declare  them  to 
their  children,  xlviii.  12.  Walk  about  Zion,  and  go  round 
about  her,  tell  the  towers  thereof.  13.  Mark  ye  well  her  bul- 
warks, consider  her  palaces ;  that  ye  may  tell  it  to  the  gen- 
eration following. 

3.  The  church  may  not  recede  from  a  more  clear 
and  particular  testimony  to  a  more  general  and 
evasive  one.  But  the  witnesses  must  proceed  in 
finivshing  their  testimony,  rendering  it  more  pointed 
and  complete,  until  God  shall,  according  to  his  prom- 
ise, overthrow  the  empire  of  darkness ;  and  intro- 
duce the  millennial  state,  in  which  the  earth  shall 
be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters 
cover  the  sea. 

Rev.  ii.  25.  But  that  which  ye  have  already,  hold  fast  till  I 
come.    Is.  viii.  16.  Bind  up  the  testimony,  seal  the  law  among 
9 


130  TESTIMONY    BEARING. 

my  disciples.  Rev.  xii.  17.  Which  keep  the  commandments 
of  God  and  have  the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ.  Phil.  iii.  16. 
Whereto  we  have  already  attained,  let  us  walk  by  the  same 
rule,  let  us  mind  the  same  thing.  Rev.  vi.  9.  I  saw  under  the 
altar  the  souls  of  them  that  were  slain  for  the  word  of  God, 
and  for  the  testimony  which  they  held.  Chap.  xii.  11.  They 
overcame  him  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  by  the  word  of 
their  testimony.  Dan.  vii.  22.  And  judgment  was  given  to 
the  saints  of  the  Most  High ;  and  the  time  came  that  the  saints 
possessed  the  kingdom.  Rev.  xx.  4.  And  judgment  was  given 
unto  them  —  and  they  lived  and  reigned  with  Christ  a  thou- 
sand years.  Ps.  Ixxiv.  20.  Have  respect  unto  the  covenant. 
21.  O,  let  not  the  oppressed  return  ashamed.  22.  Arise^  O 
God^  plead  thine  own  cause.  Psalm  Ixxii.  19.  AKD  LET 
THE  WHOLE  EARTH  BE  FILLED  WITH  HIS 
GLORY.     AMEN  AND  AMEN. 

We  therefore  condemn  the  following  errors.,  and 
testify  against  all  who  maintain  them : 

1.  "  That  the  Bible  is  the  only  proper  testimony 
of  the  church. 

2.  "  That  a  Christian  is  under  no  obligation  to 
follow  Christ's  witnesses  in  their  faithful  contend- 
ings. 

3.  "  That  it  is  lawful,  in  order  to  enlarge  the 
church,  to  open  a  wider  door  of  communion,  by 
declining  from  a  more  pointed  testimony,  to  one 
which  is  more  loose  and  general." 


APPENDIX. 


ADOPTING  ACT 


Besolved,  That  Synod  adopt  the  Formula  which  refers  to 
our  Standards,  supreme  and  subordinate,  as  presented  in  the 
following  Articles  ;  and  that  it  be  published  as  an  Appendix 
to  the  authoiized  editions  of  the  Testimony,  accompanied  with 
the  following 

DECLARATION. 

To  prevent  all  misunderstanding  of  the  matter  of  the  second 
Article  of  this  Formula,  which  embraces  the  Confession  of 
Faith  and  Catechisms,  it  is  declared,  in  reference  to  the  power 
of  the  Civil  Magistrate  in  ecclesiastical  things,  that  it  is  not 
now,  and  never  was,  any  part  of  the  faith  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church,  that  the  Civil  Magistrate  is  authorized 
to  interfere  with  the  Church  of  God  in  the  assertion,  settle- 
ment, or  administration  of  her  doctrine,  worship,  and  order; 
or  to  assume  any  dominion  over  the  rights  of  conscience.  All 
that  appertains  to  the  magistratical  power,  in  reference  to  the 
Church,  is  the  protection  of  her  members  in  the  full  possession, 
exercise,  and  enjoyment  of  their  rights.  The  magistratical 
office  is  civil  and  political,  and  consequently  altogether 
exterior  to  the  Church. 
Pittsburgh,  June  5,  1843. 

133 


TERMS  OF  ECCLESIASTICAL  COMMUNION 


REFORMED  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  IN  NORTH  AMERICA. 


1.  An  acknowledgment  of  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  to  be  the  word  of  God. 

2.  An  acknowledgment  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  Catechisms, 
Larger  and  Shorter,  and  Reformation  Principles 
Exhibited,  the  Testimony  of  the  Church  —  as  em- 
bodying, according  to  the  word  of  God,  the  great 
principles  of  the  Covenanted  Presbyterian  Re- 
formation, to  the  maintenance  of  which  this 
Church  is  obliged  by  solemn  covenant  engage- 
ments. 

3.  An  acknowledgment  that  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  only  Redeemer  and  Head  of  his  Church, 
has  appointed  one  permanent  form  of  ecclesiastical 
government ;  and  that  this  form  is,  by  divine  right, 
Presbyterian. 

4.  An  acknowledgment  that  public,  social  cove- 
nanting, upon  proper  occasions,  is  an  ordinance  of 
God,  and  that  such  moral  deeds  as   respect  the 

135 


136  TERMS    OF   ECCLESIASTICAL    COMMUNION. 

future,  whether  ecclesiastical  or  civil,  are  of  con- 
tinued obligation,  as  well  as  upon  those  represented 
in  the  taking  of  them  as  upon  those  who  actually 
covenant,  until  the  ends  of  them  be  effected. 

5.  An  acknowledgment  of  the  faithful  contend- 
ings  of  the  Martyrs  of  Jesus,  and  a  recognition  of 
all  as  brethren,  in  every  land,  who  maintain  a 
Scriptural  Testimony  in  behalf  of  the  attainments 
and  cause  of  the  Reformation,  against  all  that  is 
contrary  to  sound  doctrine  and  the  power  of  god- 
liness. 

6.  A  practical  adorning  of  the  doctrine  of  God 
our  Saviour,  by  a  life  and  conversation  becoming 
the  gospel,  together  with  due  subordination  in  the 
Lord,  to  the  authority  of  the  Synod  of  the  Re- 
formed Presbyterian  Church  in  North  America. 


FORMULA   OF   QUERIES 


TO  BE  PUT   TO 


MINISTEKS  AND   RULING  ELDERS   AT   ORDINATION. 


1.  Do  you  acknowledge  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  to  be  the  word  of  God  ? 

2.  Do  you  acknowledge  the  doctrines  of  the 
Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  the  Catechisms, 
Larger  and  Shorter,  and  Reformation  Principles 
Exhibited,  the  Testimony  of  the  Church  —  as  em- 
bodying, according  to  the  word  of  God,  the  great 
principles  of  the  Covenanted  Presbyterian  Ref- 
ormation, to  the  maintenance  of  which  this  Church 
is  obliged  by  solemn  covenant  engagements  ? 

3.  Do  you  acknowledge  that  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  only  Redeemer  and  Head  of  his  Church, 
has  appointed  one  permanent  form  of  ecclesiastical 
government ;  and  that  this  form  is,  by  divine  right, 
Presbyterian  ? 

4.  Do  you  acknowledge  that  public,  social  cove- 
nanting, upon    proper   occasions,  is    an    ordinance 

137 


138  FORMULA    OF    QUERIES. 

of  God  ;  and  that  such  moral  deeds  as  respect  the 
future,  whether  ecclesiastical  or  civil,  are  of  con- 
tinued obligation,  as  well  upon  those  represented 
in  the  taking  of  them  as  upon  those  who  actually 
covenant,  until  the  ends  of  them  be  effected  ? 

5.  Do  you  approve  of  the  faithful  contendings 
of  the  Martyrs  of  Jesus,  and  do  you  recognize  as 
brethren,  all  in  every  land,  who  maintain  a  Scrip- 
tural Testimony  in  behalf  of  the  attainments  and 
cause  of  the  Reformation,  against  all  that  is  con- 
trary to  sound  doctrine  and  the  power  of  godliness? 

6.  So  far  as  you  can  know  your  own  heart,  is 
it  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  edification  of  the 
Church,  and  not  any  selfish  object,  that  moves 
you  to  undertake  the  sacred  office  of  Minister  [or 
Ruling  Elder  ]  ? 

7.  Do  you  promise,  in  the  strength  of  divine 
grace,  to  rule  well  your  own  house  —  to  live  a 
holy  and  exemplary  life  —  to  watch  faithfully  over 
the  members  of  this  Church  —  to  exhort  with 
meekness  and  loncr-sufferino: — to  visit  the  sick 
and  afflicted  —  and  to  attend  punctually  the  meet- 
ings of  the  Presbytery  [or  Session],  and  of  the 
superior  judicatories,  when  called  thereunto,  judg- 
ing faithfully  in  the  house  of  God  ? 

8.  Do  you  promise  subjection  to  this  Presby- 
tery [or  Session],  and  to  the  superior  judicatories 


FORMULA  OF    QUERIES.  139 

of  this  Church,  in  the  Lord,  and  engage  to  follow- 
no  divisive  courses  from  the  doctrine  and  order 
which  the  Church  has  solemnly  recognized  and 
adopted  ?  —  And  do  you  further  promise  to  submit 
to  all  that  brotherly  admonition  which  your 
brethren  may  tender  you  in  the  Lord  ? 


REFORMATION  PRINCIPLES 


EXHIBITED 


BY  THE 


EEFORMED   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH 


UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


"  He  established  a  Testimony  in  Jacob,  and  appointed  a  Law  in  Israel,  which 
he  commanded  our  fathers  that  they  should  make  them  known  to  their  children : 
Who  should  arise  and  declare  them  to  their  children ;  that  they  might  set  their 
hope  in  God,  and  not  forget  the  works  of  God;  but  keep  his  commandments." 


THIRD    EDITION. 


NEW  YORK: 

LEE,  SHEPARD   AND  DILLINGHAIM. 

1871. 


New  York,  May  12,  1806. 
The  Reformed  Presbytery,  impressed  with  the  duty  of 
exhibiting  an  Historical  Yiew  of  the  Christian  Chm-ch,  as 
a  Testimony  of  their  thankfulness  to  God  for  his  goodness 
to  his  covenant  people,  and  of  their  approbation  of  the 
faithful  contendings  of  the  saints;  and  also  to  serve  as  a 
mean  of  instruction  to  those  who  are  .desirous  to  understand 
the  Presbytery's  fixed  Testimony,  Do  hereby  ratify  and 
approve  of  the  Preface  and  the  Brief  Historical  Vieio  of 
the  Churchy  with,  the  proposed  Amendments  and  Additions; 
and  they  hereby  also  appoint  Messrs.  William  Gibson  and 
Alexander  McLeod  a  committee  to  insert  those  amendments 
and  additions  in  their  proper  places,  and  to  publish  the  woi*k 
with  all  convenient  speed. 


May  15,  1806. 
The  Presbytery  referred,  for  publication,  the  Declaration 
and  Testimony  to  the  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the 
Historical  View. 

Extracted  from  the  Minutes. 

John  Black,  Cleric. 


The  Committee  to  whom  were  referred  for  publicatioD, 
by  the  Presbytery,  the  Testimony^  the  Historical  View,  and 
the  Preface^  certify  this  to  be  a  true  copy. 

William  Gibson, 
Alex.  McLeod. 


The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  for  publication, 
by  the  General  Synod,  the  "Historical  View"  revised,  and 
continued  to  the  present  time,  certify  this  to  be  a  true  copy. 

Samuel  B.  Wylie, 
Gilbert  McMastee, 
John  N.  McLeod, 
William  Agnew. 
New  York,  June  20,  1852. 


A  TKUE  copy  of  the  Historical  View,  third  edition. 
Attested  by 

John  N.  McLeod,  Stated  CUrTc, 
New  York,  June  20,  1871. 


PREFACE 


The  Gospel  of  Christ  is  a  system  of  peace  and  benevo- 
lence. An  exhibition  of  divine  mercy  to  miserable  man 
cannot  justly  be  charged  with  a  tendency  to  excite  evil  pas- 
sions: it  is  calculated  to  soothe  the  heart,  and  to  cherish 
meekness  and  love.  They  who  live  under  the  influence  of 
true  religion,  exhibit  a  living  proof  that  it  does  not  impair 
the  strength  of  the  understanding,  or  spoil  the  temper  of 
man.  Christianity,  as  a  subjective  j^rinciple,  is  uniformly 
sober  and  lovely.  Grace  originating  in  Heaven,  dispensed 
by  the  Blessed  Spirit,  and  constituting  a  bond  of  perfectness 
by  which  men  are  united  to  one  another  and  to  God  in  an 
indissolvable  union,  is  the  grand  characteristic  of  religion. 
In  this  there  is  nothing  which  deserves  hostility  from  any 
part  of  the  human  family. 

Those  persons,  nevertheless,  who  are  separated  from  the 
world  by  the  dispensation  of  God's  gracious  covenant,  are 
beheld  by  others  with  an  evil  eye.  The  very  existence  of 
the  Church  is,  alas!  displeasing  to  those  who  are  deter- 
mined not  to  enter  into  its  communion. 

The  separation  of  professors  from  others,  is  deemed  a  re- 
flection upon  the  sincerity  and  the  safety  of  their  neighbors, 

5 


6  PREFACE. 

and  is,  of  course,  considered  as  meriting  the  opposition  of 
those  who  do  not  choose  to  submit  to  the  Christian  system. 
This  state  of  things  imposes  upon  the  disciples  of  the  Re- 
deemer a  very  important  duty.  They  must  render  to  the  world, 
with  becoming  meekness,  a  reason  of  their  own  hope,  and 
the  opposition  of  adversaries  must  be  repelled  with  suitable 
arguments.  The  sacred  Scriptures  are  a  fund  of  celestial 
wisdom,  from  which  believers  are  enriched,  and  from  these 
they  derive  resources  necessary  for  their  spiritual  warfare. 

The  design  of  contending  earnestly  for  the  faith  delivered 
unto  the  saints  is  not  only  to  edify  Christians,  but  also  to 
convince  and  gain  other  persons,  persuading  them  also  to 
embrace  the  faith.  The  testimony  of  the  saints  should, 
therefore,  be  calculated  to  preserve  the  distinction  between 
the  world  and  the  Church,  to  enlighten  those  who  sit  in 
darkness,  and  to  establish  those  who  have  already  embraced 
the  faith. 

The  Reformed  Presbytery  in  the  United  States  of  North 
America  feel  themselves  under  the  most  solemn  obligations 
to  exhibit  to  the  world  the  Testimony  which  they  maintain. 
They  claim  as  a  right  the  liberty  of  expressing  their  senti- 
ments with  becoming  modesty  and  firmness.  Diftident  of 
their  own  talents  and  strength,  they  have  no  desire  to  pro- 
voke controversy;  but  sensible  of  the  truth  of  the  system 
which  they  have  embraced,  they  invite  candid  discussion.  It 
is  not  their  interest  to  be  in  an  error.  It  is  not  the  true 
interest  of  any  man  to  embrace  a  false  religion. 

The  plan  upon  which  the  Reformed  Presbytery  j^ropose 
to  exhibit  their  principles  to  the  world,  embraces  three  parts. 

The  first  is  Historical;  the  second.  Declaratory ;  and 
the  third,  Argumentative.     The  Historical  part  exhibits  the 


PREFACE.  7 

Church  as  a  visible  society  in  covenant  with  God,  in  the 
different  periods  of  time ;  and  points  out,  precisely,  the 
situation  which  they  themselves  occupy  as  a  distinct  part 
of  the  Catholic  Church.  The  Declaratory  part  exhibits  the 
truths  which  they  embrace  as  a  Church,  and  the  errors  which 
they  reject.  The  Argumentative  part  consists  in  a  full  in- 
vestigation of  the  various  ecclesiastical  systems  which  are 
known  in  the  United  States. 

The  Declaratory  part  is  the  Church's  Standing  Testimony, 
It  contains  principles  capable  of  universal  application.  To 
these  principles,  founded  upon  the  Scriptures,  simply  stated, 
and  invariably  the  same  in  every  part  of  the  world,  every 
adult  church  member  is  to  give  his  unequivocal  assent. 

The  Historical  part  is  a  helj)  to  understand  the  principles 
of  the  Testimony.  It  is  partly  founded  upon  human  records, 
and  therefore  not  an  article  of  faith ;  but  it  should  be  care- 
fully perused  as  an  illustration  of  divine  truth,  and  instruc- 
tive to  the  Church.     It  is  a  helper  of  the  faith. 

The  Argumentative  part  is  the  particular  application  of 
the  principles  of  the  Testimony.  It  specifies  the  people 
who  maintain  errors ;  and  it  exposes  the  errors  which  they 
maintain.  The  confidence  which  persons  may  place  in  this 
part  of  the  system  will  partly  rest  upon  human  testimony, 
unless  every  one  who  reads  it  shall  have  also  read  and 
known  every  work  to  which  it  refers.  It  is  not,  therefore, 
recommended  as  an  article  of  faith ;  but  as  a  mean  of  in- 
struction in  opposing  error,  and  gaining  over  others  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth. 

Every  human  help  which  can  be  obtained  is  to  be  used 
in  subserviency  to  the  interest  of  rehgion.  But  Divine 
Truth  is  alone  the  foundation  of  our  hope.     Authentic  his- 


8  PREFACE. 

tory  and  sound  argument  are  always  to  be  highly  valued, 
and  have  always  been  beneficial  to  the  Church ;  but  they 
should  not  be  incorjDorated  with  the  confession  of  the 
Church's  faith.  The  argumentative  part  is  a  work  of  much 
care,  and  labor,  and  time.  The  Presbytery  have  not  pro- 
posed to  complete  it  at  present. 

It  shall  hereafter  be  published  in  distinct  and  separate 
dissertations,  under  such  forms  and  in  such  order  as  cir- 
cumstances may  appear  to  demand. 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK  I. 

THE    HISTORICAL    VIEW    OF    THE    CATHOLIC 
CHURCH. 

CHAPTER    I. 

The  State  of  the  Church  from  the  Fall  of  Man  until  the 
Law  was  given  by  Moses  at  Mount  Sinai. 

Importance  of  Ecclesiastical  History;  Creation  and  Fall  of  Man; 
Revelation  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace;  the  Church  constituted  by 
the  dispensation  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace ;  necessarily  a  visible 
Covenant  Society ;  Cain;  Enos;  Noah;  Abrahamic  Covenant;  no 
written  Revelation;  no  stated  public  ministry.  A  period  of  2513 
years.  —  Page  15. 

CHAPTER    II. 

The  State  of  the  Church  from  the  giving  of  the  Law  un- 
til THE  Death  of  Christ. 

The  State  of  the  World  ;  necessary  change  of  the  form  of  the  visible 
Church;  Sinai  Covenant;  God  frames  a  Constitution  of  Civil 
Government;  subservient  to  the  Church;  Hebrew  Church  and 
State  distinct;  the  Temple  worship;  Proseucha;  Synagogue; 
Ministry  of  John;  Ministry  of  Jesus  Christ;  Christ's  Death.  A 
period  of  1524  years.  —  Page  27. 

CHAPTER    III. 

The  State  of  the  Church  from  the  Death  of  Christ  until 
THE  Rise  of  Antichrist. 

Types  and  Shadows  at  an  end;  the  Abrahamic  Covenant  re-exhib- 
ited; the  Church  altered  in  its  visible  order;  the  Apostles;  form- 
ing  Churches;    Baptism;    Church    at  Jerusalem;    condition   of 

9 


10  CONTENTS. 

Church  fellowship;  Presbyterian  order;  spread  of  the  Gospel; 
Evangelists;  organization  of  the  Gentile  Churches;  the  wealth 
of  Christians  employed  for  the  Church's  good;  primitive  purity 
declines;  carnal  men  profess  Christianity ;  ambition  possesses  its 
most  conspicuous  ministers;  the  external  form  of  the  Church  be- 
comes assimilated  to  that  of  the  Roman  Empire ;  Prelacy ;  Popery. 
A  period  of  573  years.  — Page  37. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

The  State  of  the  Christian  Church  from  the  Rise  of  An- 
tichrist UNTIL  the  Present  Day. 

The  Church  from  the  beginning  taught  to  expect  a  general  apostasy ; 
character  of  Antichrist;  date;  at  its  height  in  the  eleventh  centu- 
ry; Waldenses;  never  in  tlie  Roman  communion;  character  of 
them  at  Rome:  doctrine  and  order  of  the  Waldensian  Church; 
Covenanters;  Lollard;  WicklifFe ;  John  Huss;  Jerome  Hussites 
dissent  from  Rome  and  unite  in  covenant  and  communion  with 
the  Waldenses ;  prepare  for  a  reformation  ;  Reformers  ;  their  opin- 
ion about  the  question,  Is  the  Roman  Church  a  Christian  Church.? 
—  Lutherans' covenant;  Waldenses  join  the  Reformation  Churches; 
England's  reformation ;  Henry  VIII.  head  and  lawgiver  of  the 
Church  of  England;  Reformation  in  Scotland;  imperfection  of 
the  Reformation  Churches  in  general ;  causes  of  violating  the  unity 
of  the  visible  Church;  Church  at  Geneva;  English  Puritans;  cov- 
enants with  the  Scottish  Reformers;  opinion  of  the  Foreign 
Churches  concerning  the  Solemn  League  ;  decline  of  the  Reforma- 
tion Churches;  American  Churches.  A  period  of  1200  years. — 
Page  53. 


BOOK    II. 

AN    HISTORICAL  VIEW   OF    THE   REFORMED   PRES- 
BYTERIAN    CHURCH. 

CHAPTER    I . 

From  the  Establishment  of  the  Presbyterian  Reformation 
UNTIL  the  Revolution  Settlement,  1643-16SS. 

Advantages  for  Reformation  peculiar  to  Scotland;  improved  by  the 
Reformers;  the  Church  a  distinct  Empire ;   the  civil  constitution 


CONTENTS.  11 

made  to  support  the  Church  as  a  distinct  kingdom;  Westminster 
Assembl}^ ;  power  and  moderation  of  the  Presbyterians ;  Charles 
I.  beheaded  by  the  Independents;  Charles  II.  proclaimed  king  by 
the  Scots  ;  impropriety  of  this  ;  coronation  and  covenants;  state 
of  parties  in  Church  and  State;  the  King  defeated  by  Cromwell; 
disputes  about  the  legitimacy  of  Cromwell's  authority;  Protest- 
ors; Monk;  Charles  II.  restored;  Marquis  of  Argyle;  Sharp; 
persecution  of  Presbyterian  Covenanters;  disputes  about  the  legit- 
imacy of  the  King's  power;  Cargill;  Hamilton;  Renwick;  Coc- 
ceius  ;  Concessions  of  the  Dutch  Divines  ;  state  of  the  Covenant- 
ers.    A  period  of  45  years.  —  Page  77. 

CHAPTER    II. 

From  the  Revolution  Settlement  in  Britain  until  the 
Constitution  of  the  Reformed  Presbytery  in  the  United 
States  of  America. 

Prince  of  Orange  ;  James  II. ;  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience ;  con- 
tradictory and  the  practice  impossible  ;  University'  of  Oxford ;  state 
of  the  Church  at  the  Revolution  ;  apostasy  of  the  three  Ministers; 
the  state  of  the  Witnesses  of  the  Reformation  ;  McMillan ;  the  Re- 
formed Presbytery ;  Testimony  ;  state  of  the  Church  ;  Presbyteries 
in  Ireland  and  America.     A  period  of  86  years.  —  Page  99. 

CHAPTER    III. 

An  Historical  View  of  the  State  of  the  Reformed  Presby- 
terian Church  in  America  until  the  Ratification  of 
their  Testimony  in  May,  1S06. 

Presbyterian  Covenanters  fly  from  persecution  to  America ;  Cuth- 
bertson ;  Reformed  Presbytery;  state  of  Religion  in  America; 
American  Revolution;  union  of  the  Reformed  and  Associate  Pres- 
byteries; some  members  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church 
still  maintain  their  ground  ;  assistance  from  Europe ;  Reid  ;  McGar- 
ragh;  King;  McKinney;  Gibson;  Constitution  of  the  Reformed 
Presbytery ;  License  for  young  men  to  preach  the  Gospel ;  arrange- 
ment of  committees;  Testimony.  A  period  of  32  years.  —  Page  112. 

CHAPTER    IV. 
From  the  Ratification  of  the  Testimony  until  May,   1852. 

The  Church  is  One  ;  has  a  past  and  a  future ;  these  facts  regarded  by 
the  framers  of  our  standards  ;  the  inquiries,  Why  was  the  Reformed 


12  CONTENTS. 

Presbyterian  Church  organized  in  America?  Why  is  its  organi- 
zation continued  ?  —  answered  ;  standards  settled  ;  harmony,  affec- 
tion, and  labors  of  the  Ministry;  Theological  seminaries;  con- 
stitution of  Synod;  Foreign  relations;  representative  Synod; 
subordinate  Synods;  proposed  plan  of  correspondence  with  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church ;  its  articles ;  its 
principle  approved,  but  its  expediency  at  the  time  doubted;  cor- 
respondence with  the  Associate  Synod  ;  signs  of  the  times  regarded ; 
correspondence  with  the  Scottish  Synod;  proposal  of  a  mutual 
covenant  of  the  whole  Reformed  Church  ;  advance  of  the  Refor- 
mation cause;  civil  institutions  of  the  United  States;  slavery; 
changes;  war  of  1812;  oath  of  allegiance  authorized  by  Synod ; 
Prove  nata  rupture;  conduct  in  reference  to  those  who  separated; 
effect  upon  our  Churches;  Foreign  missionary  measures;  ad- 
vantages of;  mission  to  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia;  corre- 
spondence with  the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Synod;  unity  of 
the  several  parts  of  the  Reformed  Church  more  extended  and  firm 
than  that  of  Rome ;  conventions  of  several  branches  of  the  Church 
in  order  to  a  closer  union;  our  action  justifiable ;  decease  of  dis- 
tinguished ministers ;  events  of  past  years;  their  influence  upon 
our  cause.     A  period  of  45  years.  —  Page  146. 


Authorities  referred  to  in  Book  II.,  Chapter  IV. 

The  statements  of  the  history  being  made  on  the  authority  of  the 
Supreme  Judicatory  of  the  Church  adopting  it,  the  reference  to  other 
authorities  is  not  required.  In  this  respect,  the  continuation  in 
Chapter  IV.  is  uniform  with  the  previous  chapters.  Asa  matter 
of  information,  however,  the  authorities  quoted  are  given  here,  as 
they  occur  in  order. 

History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  pp.  229-282.  —  Presbyterian 
of  October  30,  1827.  —  Hetherington's  History,  pp.  362,  363.  —  His- 
tory of  Presbyterian  Church,  pp.  295,  297,  484,  489,  490,  403.  — Min- 
utes of  Synod  1827-1821-1812-1821-1823-1831-1846. —  See  respecting 
organization  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  a  document  of  the 
Scottish  judicatory,  written  by  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Archibald  Mason, 
pp.  5,  6,  10,  12;  Glasgow,  1787. 


REFORMATION  PRINCIPLES  EXHIBITED. 


PART  I. 
A    BRIEF    HISTORICAL    VIEW 

OF 

THE   CHURCH, 

AS  A  VISIBLE   SOCIETY  IN  COVENANT  WITH  GOD. 
IN  TWO  BOOKS: 

THE    FIRST    EXHIBITING 

THE  CHURCH  UNIVERSAL, 

AXD  THE  SECOXD 

THE   REFORMED  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

(13) 


BOOK  I. 

AN  HISTORICAL  VIEW  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 


CHAPTEK   I. 


THE  STATE  OF  THE  CHURCH  FROM  THE  FALL  OF  MAN 
UNTIL  THE  LAW  WAS  GIVEN  BY  MOSES  AT  MOUNT 
SINAI. 

In  proportion  as  objects  exceed  in  grandeur, 
they  demand  the  admiration  of  the  human  mind. 
And  there  is  not  among  the  ranks  of  created  being 
one  object  worthy  of  comparison,  in  respect  of 
sublimity,  with  the  Christian  Church.  A  moral 
empire,  consisting  of  members  animated  by  the 
Eternal  Spirit,  the  mediatory  person,  God  manifest 
in  the  flesh  at  its  head,  the  vast  machinery  of 
creation  moving  in  regular  subordination  to  its 
interest,  and  exhibiting  the  ineffable  glory  of  the 
Divinity,  is  an  object  to  be  contemplated  with 
adipiration  and  awe.  "  Out  of  Zion,  the  perfection 
of  beauty,  God  hath  shined." 

The  Church  is  the  centre  around  which  the 
Creator  causes  all  terrestrial  things  to  revolve. 
Our  views,  therefore,  of  the  present  world  must  be 
indistinct,  unless  we   perceive   its  relation  to  the 

15 


16  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

kingdom  of  Christ.  The  history  of  nations  must  be 
imperfect  and  erroneous,  unless  they  refer  to  the 
secret  spring  by  which  every  motion  is  directed  — 
the  purpose  of  God  to  glorify  himself  in  the  salva- 
tion of  his  church.  This  is  the  meridian  line  which 
the  Former  of  all  things  strikes  out  through  the 
vast  and  crowded  map  of  time,  and  to  which  every 
figure,  however  apparently  indistinct  and  uncon- 
nected, is  directed  by  an  unerring  hand. 

The  heavens  and  the  earth  were  created  by 
Jehovah,  and  each  place  is  adapted  by  infinite 
wisdom  to  the  end  which  it  is  designed  to  answer. 
The  first  man  Adam  was  appointed  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  earth,  for  himself,  and  the  whole 
human  race,  represented  by  him,  and  to  descend 
from  him.  The  tenement  was  wisely  fitted  for 
the  occupant.  The  earth  was  clothed  with  ver- 
dure ;  every  vegetable  in  full  maturity,  and  every 
tree  laden  with  his  fruit.  The  atmosphere  was  in 
its  best  state,  and  the  various  kinds  of  animals,  in 
the  perfection  of  their  respective  natures,  came  at 
the  direction  of  the  Creator  to  testify  their  sub- 
mission to  man. 

A  body  formed  of  the  earth,  and  organized 
upon  principles  of  astonishing  wisdom ;  capaWe 
of  dissolution,  but  endowed  with  a  natural  im- 
mortality; being  animated  by  an  immaterial  soul, 
constituted  upon  principles  of  necessary  immor- 
tality, distinguished  the  common  father  of  our 
family. 


THE   FIRST    COVENANT.  17 

This  man  God  took  into  covenant.  Adam  was 
naturally  and  necessarily  bound  to  obey  all  the 
commandments  of  God  ;  but  as  a  moral  agent  he 
also  had  power  to  consent  to  the  terms  proposed 
by  his  Creator,  and  to  promise  obedience.  A  cov- 
enant between  God  and  man  consists  in  a  proposal 
made  by  God,  and  a  corresponding  engagement  on 
the  part  of  man. 

In  the  first  covenant,  perfect  obedience  was 
required  of  man.  The  law  of  nature,  reduced  into 
a  covenant  form,  had  a  positive  precept  annexed  : 
"  Thou  shalt  not  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  for  in  the  day  thou 
^eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die." 

Adam,  under  the  united  temptation  of  Satan 
and  of  Eve,  who  had  herself  been  first  in  the 
crime,  transgressed  the  covenant  of  life,  and  in- 
curred the  penalty  of  death.  As  the  representative 
of  the  human  race  he  fell,  and  all  mankind  fell 
in  him.  This  fatal  event  proved  the  mean  of  a 
further  manifestation  of  the  boundless  perfection 
of  God.  The  plans  of  heaven  were  not  frustrated. 
It  had  from  eternity  been  the  purpose  of  the 
Godhead  to  exhibit  mercy  as  soon  as  man  should 
have  become  miserable. 

The  event  of  the  fall  was  foreknown,  and  the 
remedy  was  predestinated.  It  was  predestinated, 
too,  upon  the  footing  of  a  solemn  covenant ;  and 
this  gracious  covenant  is  eternal. 

There  never  was  a  time  in  which  the  divine 
2 


18  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

mind  was  undetermined.  He  is  of  one  mind  ;  and 
his  purpose  is  unalterable.  Each  divine  perfec- 
tion, and  the  harmony  of  all  the  divine  attributes, 
are  to  be  exhibited  in  one  system,  which  shall,  at 
the  same  time,  confer  unbounded  happiness  upon 
that  part  of  the  intelligent  family  of  God  which 
are  immediately  included  in  it,  and  offer  to  the 
universe  an  object  of  contemplation,  which  is  in 
reality  the  perfection  of  beauty. 

There  is  a  covenant  of  grace  between  God  the 
Father  and  his  eternal  Son,  for  the  redemption  of 
human  criminals.  The  magnitude  and  the  con- 
descension of  this  plan  is  an  unparalleled  instance 
of  the  grandeur  of  the  conception  of  the  divine 
mind.  The  immense  distance  between  the  creature 
and  the  Creator  is  filled  up  by  the  mediatorial 
person  Jesus  Christ,  who,  as  the  second  Adam, 
undertakes  to  assume  the  human  nature,  complete 
in  soul  and  body,  into  a  union  with  his  divine 
nature  ;  and  by  suffering  as  a  substitute,  secure 
the  salvation  of  those  whom  it  was  purposed  he 
should  represent.  God  made  a  covenant  with  his 
chosen,  promising,  upon  condition  that  he  should 
make  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin,  to  confer  eternal 
life  upon  all  his  spiritual  seed. 

No  sooner  was  our  family  involved  in  sin  and 
misery,  than  this  covenant  was  revealed.  When 
the  first  pair  felt  the  operation  of  the  curse,  the 
Redeemer  himself,  the  personal  voice  or  luord  of  God, 
appeared  upon  the    earth,  now  preserved   by  his 


THE    COVENANT    OF    GRACE.  19 

power  as  the  theatre  upon  which  he  is  about  to 
exhibit  the  most  astonishing  instances  of  majesty 
and  condescension.  He  conversed  with  them,  and 
in  the  same  sentence  pronounces  the  punishment, 
and  proclaims  the  pardon.  The  seed  of  the  woman 
shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head. 

The  covenant  of  grace  was  now  for  the  first  time 
revealed,  and  a  suitable  dispensation  is  made  of  it 
to  fallen  man.  To  this  dispensation  Adam  pro- 
fessedly submits,  and  in  evidence  of  his  faith,  calls 
his  wife  by  the  name  of  Eve,  the  mother  of  all 
living.  Both  submitted  again  to  the  government 
of  God,  upon  the  footing  of  the  revelation  of  his 
grace,  when  they  became  clothed  in  those  skins 
which  were  at  once  a  present  earthly  benefit,  and 
a  type  of  that  justifying  righteousness,  by  which 
all  believers  are  effectually  preserved  from  con- 
demnation. Immediately  did  the  Eedeemer  thus 
dispense,  as  a  new  covenant  benefit,  hodily  raiment^ 
and  a  significant  religious  rite.  Sacrifices  typical 
of  the  sufferings  of  Christ  were  then  first  insti- 
tuted. The  original  pair,  our  common  father  and 
our  common  mother,  were  the  first  Church,  and  the 
blessed  Redeemer  himself  the  first  preacher  and 
the  first  priest,  who  directed  the  worship  of  God 
upon  the  footing  of  the  revelation  of  his  grace. 
Mercy  flows  through  a  covenant  system,  and  it  is 
externally  exhibited  under  a  covenant  form.  The 
visible  Church,  as  a  Society,  is  in  covenant  with 
God.     The  covenant  between  God  and  his  Church 


20  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

consists  in  God's  proposing  a  certain  form  of  re- 
ligion as  the  external  dispensation  of  his  grace,  and 
the  Church  professing  to  receive,  and  engaging  to 
perform,  in  the  strength  of  promised  grace,  every 
part  of  religious  worship,  agreeably  to  that  very 
form  which  God  has  appointed. 

Not  only  are  the  saints  interested  in  the  cove- 
nant of  grace,  but  the  Church,  as  a  visible  Society, 
is  a  Covenant  Society. 

The  visible  Church,  thus  erected  as  a  Covenant 
Society,  waits  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  prom- 
ise of  God,  in  the  use  of  the  instituted  means  of 
grace.  The  children  are  included  with  the  parents 
of  the  ecclesiastical  covenant ;  the  Sabbath  is  ob- 
served, and  sacrifices  are  offered.  On  the  seventh 
day  of  the  week,  in  Scripture  language,  the  end  of 
days,  Cain  and  Abel  presented  their  offerings  to 
the  Lord.  God  was  present  in  his  Church,  and 
familiarly  conversed  with  men,  and  by  this  ex- 
traordinary condescension,  supplied  the  want  of 
other  means  of  increasing  in  religious  knowledge. 
Immediate  revelations  and  domestic  instruction 
supplied  the  Church,  during  this  early  period,  with 
adequate  information. 

The  whole  of  the  human  family  was  at  first  in 
the  Church,  but  this  did  not  continue  a  long  time 
to  be  the  case.  Abel  by  faith  offered  to  God  a 
more  acceptable  sacrifice  than  his  elder  brother. 
Cain  was  wroth,  and  the  Lord  reproved  him.  In- 
stead of  reformation,  however,  the  reproof  adminis- 


THE    COVENANT    SOCIETY.  21 

tered  by  the  Head  of  the  Church  himself,  had  a  bad 
effect  upon  this  unworthy  member.  He  determined 
upon  revenge,  and  he  murdered  his  brother. 

God  called  the  murderer  to  an  account,  spared 
his  life,  but  secluded  him  from  all  further  connection 
with  his  Covenant  Society.  This  excommunicated 
vagabond,  despising  ecclesistical  censures,  although 
pronounced  by  God  himself,  and  solicitous  only 
about  the  effect  as  it  respected  the  concerns  of  his 
body,  went  out  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and, 
together  with  his  offspring,  lived  in  the  total  neg- 
lect of  all  religious  ordinances. 

The  Church  progresses,  however,  through  the 
medium  of  the  other  children  of  Adam,  but  es- 
pecially in  the  line  of  Seth.  In  the  days  of  Enos, 
who  was  born  in  the  235th  year  of  Adam's  life, 
men  began  to  be  called  hi/  the  name  of  the  Lord!^ 
Church  members  are  God's  children  in  a  special 
sense,   and    the  disciples,   as  they  are   now  called 

*  The  marginal  translation  is  preferable  to  that  of  the  text,  Gen.  iv. 
26.  In  the  text  the  translation  is,  "then  began  men  to  call  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord."  In  the  margin  it  is,  "to  call  themselves  Jy  the 
name  of  the  Lord."  The  professors  of  religion,  now  publicly  renewing 
their  covenant  with  God,  are  called  by  his  name ;  and  from  this  period 
until  the  days  of  Job,  the  discriminating  title  of  the  godly  continued  to 
be,  the  Sons  of  God.  Gen.  vi.  2.  Job  i.  6.  The  Covenanters,  at  this  time, 
were  called  by  the  name  of  the  Lord,  as  they  afterwards  surnamed 
themselves  by  the  name  of  Israel.     Isa.  xliv.  5. 

The  best  critics  confirm  this  explanation  of  Gen.  iv.  26.  Tum  coep- 
tum  est  appellari  de  nomine  Jehovje.  Quae  versio  hoc  tempore  doctis 
interpretibus  merito  probatur.     Vitringa. 

Nomen  suscepisse  peculiare  cultorum  seu  filiorum  Dei  —  et  Dei  no- 
mine vocati  sunt.     Owen. 


22  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

Christians,  were  then  called  the  sons  of  God,  to 
distinguish  them  from  the  accursed  offspring  of 
Cain.  The  information  and  the  wisdom  which 
Adam  obtained  by  his  frequent  conversation  with 
God,  and  his  own  long  experience,  were  calculated 
to  render  him  highly  useful  in  the  Church.  The  age 
of  the  Patriarchs,  before  the  Flood,  being  generally 
nine  centuries,  rendered  them  living  libraries  of 
sacred  knowledge.  Two  eminent  prophets,  Noah 
and  Enoch,  were  also  inspired  to  make  further 
revelations.  And  in  this  manner  did  the  Church 
proceed,  until,  by  the  impiety  of  its  members,  form- 
ing intimacies  with  the  wicked  offspring  of  Cain, 
the  power  of  religion  became  almost  unknown. 
God  was  provoked  to  overwhelm  ungodly  pro- 
fessors, and  open  despisers  of  his  mercy,  in  one 
common  deluge. 

Determined  to  punish  such  general  corruption, 
and  yet  preserve  his  Church,  the  Lord  renewed 
his  covenant,  establishing  it  with  Noah  and  his 
family.  Several  pious  persons  were  then  living 
upon  the  earth,  but  they  were  not  admitted  into 
this  covenant.  They  were  all  to  be  admitted  into 
Heaven  before  Noah  should  enter  the  Ark.  Me- 
thuselah died  immediately  before  the  flood. 

The  saints  were  preserved.  Noah  and  his  family 
were  under  divine  protection.  There  was  not  any 
one  of  the  election  of  grace  found  among  the  rest 
of  the  human  family.  No  child  of  the  new  cove- 
nant was   ever  afterwards   to   descend   from  their 


COVENANT    WITH    ABRAHAM.  23 

families.  They  are  all  destroyed  by  the  judgments 
of  God.  The  covenant  of  works  procures  their 
death ;  but  the  dispensation  of  the  covenant  of 
grace  preserves  Noah  and  his  family.  He  by  faith 
prepared  an  Ark  for  the  saving  of  his  house. 

The  Church  is  again  reduced  to  a  small  compass. 
Eight  souls  only  are  saved  in  the  Ark.  God  re- 
news again  his  covenant  with  Noah  and  his  sons, 
and  in  this  dispensation  of  his  everlasting  covenant 
of  free  grace,  engages  to  preserve  the  world  from 
any  similar  destruction,  and  to  continue  both  seed- 
time and  harvest  in  their  seasons. 

The  Church  in  a  short  time  increased  in  num- 
bers, and  degenerated  in  practice.  As  nations 
were  multiplied,  men  began  to  be  guilty  of  idol- 
atry. God,  nevertheless,  provides  for  his  covenant 
people  his  protection.  The  truly  devout  found  him 
an  exceeding  great  reward.  And  they  continue  to 
inculcate  upon  their  children  the  maxims  of  virtue, 
to  observe  the  external  forms  of  religion,  prayer, 
conversation,  offering  sacrifices,  and  the  observation 
of  the  Sabbath.  Eminent  men  were  raised  up  as 
types  of  the  Saviour,  and  the  Church  was  instructed 
by  the  transactions  of  God  with  these  eminent 
characters.  After  Noah,  Melchizedek,  Abram,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob  were  types  of  Christ. 

God's  covenant  with  Abraham  commences  a  dis- 
tinct era  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  The  seed 
which  was  sown  in  the  constitution  of  the  Church 
is  now  expanded.     The  visible  Church,  as  a  Cove- 


24  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

nant  Society,  is  alread}^  bound  to  submission  to  all 
the  institutions  of  the  Lord.  These  institutions 
are  adapted  by  infinite  wisdom  to  the  state  of  his 
Church.  As  the  term  of  human  life  diminishes, 
domestic  instruction  becomes  more  precarious,  and 
less  effectual.  As  nations  become  more  distinct, 
and  have  separate  interests,  there  is  the  greater 
need  of  a  more  regular  organization  of  the  Church, 
that  its  unity  may  be  preserved.  And  it  is  always 
proper  that  such  ordinances  as  are  conducive  to 
edification,  and  the  preservation  of  an  evident  dis- 
tinction from  the  world,  be  observed  by  the  disciples 
of  the  Lord.  The  covenant  with  Abraham  was  to 
himself  personally  interesting.  It  was  a  dispensa- 
tion of  the  covenant  of  grace,  in  which  he  had 
already  trusted.  And,  as  a  type  sealed  by  a  bloody 
rite,  it  pointed  out  the  covenant  of  grace  to  others 
also. 

It  is,  moreover,  a  renovation  of  the  ecclesiastical 
covenant,  with  some  appropriate  variations.  It  is 
promised  to  Abraham,  that  from  him  the  Messiah 
is  to  proceed,  and  that  in  his  family  the  Church 
shall  hereafter  continue. 

His  first  name,  Abram,  signified  an  eminent 
Patriarch,  and  being  changed  by  God  into  Abra- 
ham, the  Father  of  many  people,  it  became  still 
more  significant.  This  distinguished,  character 
travels  through  the  nations,  and  is  universally 
known.  Social  worship  continues  to  be  conducted 
in  the   Church  as  it   formerly  had  been,  by  the 


THE   PATRIARCHS.  25 

observation  of  the  Sabbath,  sacrifice,  domestic  edu- 
cation, prayer,  and  conference.  But  God's  gracious 
dispensation  to  Abram  estabHshed  a  more  compact 
ecclesiastical  organization  than  any  which  preceded 
it.  The  Abrahamic  covenant  has  the  seal  of  cir- 
cumcision affixed  to  it,  and  the  promised  seed  is 
limited  to  the  line  of  Isaac  and  Jacob.  By  this 
mean,  intimation  is  given  to  all  men,  that  in  these 
families  the  Church  is  in  future .  to  be  preserved, 
and  in  due  time  to  be  erected  into  a  more  regular 
visible  organization.  Although  all  the  children  of 
Abraham,  and  even  his  adopted  offspring,  his  ser- 
vants, are  constituted  members,  and  receive  the 
seal  of  circumcision,  yet  it  is  well  known  that  both 
these,  and  the  other  pious  families  which  then  lived, 
are,  after  the  elect  are  carried  to  heaven  from 
among  them,  to  dwindle  away  from  the  visible 
Church,  and  become  extinct  as  to  covenant  con- 
nection with  God.  Shem  himself,  w^ho  lived  fifty 
years  after  the  covenant  was  established  with 
Abraham,  Melchizedek,  and  his  pious  connections 
Job  and  Jethro,  and  all  other  good  men  who  be- 
lieved in  God  and  worshipped  him  accordingly,  are 
continued  in  the  visible  Church,  according  to  its 
ancient  patriarchal  form;  but  are  excluded  from 
the  more  compact  order,  the  foundation  of  which 
was  laid  in  the  covenant  of  Abraham,  and  which 
was  at  the  appointed  time  to  be  completely  estab- 
lished. Under  every  form  of  administration,  the 
immediate  children  are  included  with  the  parents 


26  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

in  the  visible  Covenant  Society,  and  every  dispen- 
sation is  introduced  so  gradually,  as  that  they  who 
lived  under  the  former  dispensation  shall  not  lose 
any  of  their  privileges ;  and  thus  the  unity  of  the 
visible  Church,  although  it  experiences  the  neces- 
sary alterations  in  external  form,  may  be  constantly 
preserved.  Four  centuries  did  the  arrangements 
made  with  Abram,  as  the  Kepresentative  of  the 
Church,  remain  for  the  consideration  of  the  saints, 
before  they  were  fully  put  in  practice.  Circum- 
cision was  indeed  practised  in  his  family ;  but  the 
visible  Church  was  not  yet  so  organized  as  that  all 
others  were  without  its  pale,  and  their  forms  of 
worship  rejected  of  God.  Prophets  and  priests 
were  occasionally  commissioned  immediately  by 
God  to  instruct,  and  conduct  the  devotion  of  certain 
parts  of  his  Church.  During  this  period  there  was 
no  written  Revelation,  nor  were  the  forms  of  wor- 
ship such  as  required  a  regular  stated  ministry. 
This  patriarchal  dispensation,  adapted  wisely  by 
the  Redeemer  to  the  state  of  the  world,  continued 
in  operation  until  the  Law  was  given  by  Moses 
at  Mount  Sinai.  During  this  period  the  Church 
looked  forth  as  the  morning. 


CHURCH    UNDER   THE   LAW.  27 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE  STATE  OF  THE  CHURCH  FROM  THE  GIVING  OF   THE 
LAW  UNTIL  THE  DEATH  OF  CHRIST. 

Life  and  growth  distinguish  the  works  of  God. 
These  are  characters  which  the  utmost  efforts  of 
created  power  cannot  bestow  upon  its  own  works. 
The  analogy  of  nature  teaches  us  to  expect  a 
progression  from  infancy  to  maturity,  in  the  mys- 
tical body  of  Christ.  The  history  of  the  Church 
exhibits  the  operation  of  this  principle.  The  Cov- 
enant Society  proceeds  toward  perfection. 

The  moral  aspect  of  the  world  had  greatly 
changed  during  the  four  hundred  years  which  pre- 
ceded the  divine  legcation  of  Moses.  Patriarchal 
simplicity  was  almost  forgotten,  and  towards  the 
close  of  this  period  the  most  abominable  idolatries 
almost  universally  prevailed.  These  idolatries  be- 
came incorporated  with  political  institutions,  and 
were  supported  by  the  progress  of  the  arts  and 
sciences.  The  godly  men  were  gradually  received 
into  heaven,  and  their  degenerate  families  became 
the  votaries  of  the  prevailing  superstitions.  The 
covenant  with  Abraham  anticipated  this  event,  and 
preserved  the  Church  from  destruction.  Such  an 
organization  of  the  ecclesiastical  body  as  may  serve 
the  purposes  of  piety,  typify  the  Eedeemer,  and 
preserve  the  Church  distinct  from  the  nations,  is 
now  become  more  necessary  than  ever.     Upon  the 


28  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

pillar  of  truth  such  inscriptions  must  appear  as  are 
fit  to  produce  these  effects  in  the  present  state  of 
human  society.  Such  a  constitution  is  provided 
for  the  Church  by  the  Divine  Head ;  and  the  de- 
scendants of  Jacob  are  miraculously  delivered  from 
Egyptian  bondage,  under  the  conduct  of  Moses, 
and,  assembled  at  Sinai,  they  have  this  constitution 
delivered  to  them  in  a  covenant  form.  The  Sinai 
covenant  is  an  external  dispensation  of  the  cove- 
nant of  grace,  a  fulfilment  in  part  of  the  first 
promise  to  fallen  man,  and  a  further  development 
of  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  divinely  adapted  to  the 
state  of  the  times.  This  ecclesiastical  organization 
provided  rites  which  prefigured  the  coming  of 
Christ,  and  the  consequent  change  of  dispensation. 
It  established  laws  which  directly  condemned  the 
idolatrous  services  of  the  heathen,  and  which  were 
abundantly  calculated  to  preserve  the  temporal 
interest  of  the  society,  and  advance  the  eternal 
salvation  of  God's  own  people.  A  constant  series 
of  miracles  during  the  course  of  forty  years  con- 
firmed the  divine  origin  of  this  new  dispensation, 
and  settled  according  to  promise  the  Covenant 
Society  in  the  land  of  Canaan.  This  people  are 
now  the  only  visible  Church.  The  covenant  be- 
tween them  and  their  God  consists  in  his  proposing 
to  them  the  whole  system  of  ecclesiastical  policy 
now  established,  and  requiring  their  submission  to  it, 
together  with  their  express  engagement  to  observe 
it  in  every  particular.     This  dispensation  is  more 


DIVINE   REVELATION.  29 

specific  than  any  which  preceded  it.  It  requires 
the  observation  of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  offering  of 
sacrifices,  as  was  the  case  from  the  first  erection 
of  the  Church  on  earth.  It  requires  punctual  at- 
tention to  family  religion,  and  pious  conference,  as 
it  also  was  from  the  beginning.  It  establishes  a 
regular  ministry,  to  be  continued  in  uninterrupted 
succession,  and  institutes  elders  and  judges  to  pre- 
serve order,  and  punish  the  rebellious.  Divine 
Revelation  is  committed  to  writing,  and  this  book 
of  the  covenant  is  deposited  in  the  hands  of  the 
Hebrews,  as  the  rule  of  their  faith  and  manners. 
Circumcision,  the  sign  of  the  Abrahamic  Covenant, 
is  continued,  to  show  that  this  is  an  enlarged  edition 
of  that  covenant ;  and  the  passover,  instituted  as 
the  token  of  their  separate  preservation  in  Egypt, 
is  also  continued  as  a  commemoration  of  their 
deliverance,  a  badge  of  their  separation  from  -the 
heathen,  and  a  type  of  the  great  sacrifice  which  the 
Redeemer  is  once  to  offer  for  their  redemption. 

These  two  sacraments,  circumcision  and  the 
passover,  seal  the  ecclesiastical  covenant  to  every 
member  of  the  visible  Church,  seal  eternal  salvation 
to  every  believer,  and  serve  as  public  declarations 
to  the  world  of  their  distinguishing  religious  pro- 
fession. The  same  people  who  were  thus  reduced 
into  a  Church  state,  were  formed  also  by  the  same 
divine  authority  into  a  civil  commonwealth.  God 
commands  that  every  part  of  human  conduct  should 
subserve  the  interest  of  his  Church ;  and  he,  by  a 


30  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

divine  act,  exhibited  to  the  nations  an  ever-memo- 
rable instance  of  the  civil  polity  being  so  formed  as 
effectually  to  answer  this  grand  design.  The  policy 
of  the  heathen  nations  was  to  render  religion  a 
political  engine  for  the  support  of  daring  ambition. 
Among  the  Hebrews,  civil  legislation  was  intended 
for  the  safety  of  the  Church. 

The  Hebrew  Church  was,  nevertheless,  really 
distinct  from  the  state.  The  proselytes  of  the 
covenant  w^ere  admitted  as  full  members  of  the 
Church,  and  thus  engrafted  on  the  stock  of  Abra- 
ham ;  but  were  not  admitted  to  the  same  civil 
privileges  as  the  native  Israelites.  The  proselytes 
of  the  gate  were  admitted  to  some  civil  privileges, 
but  not  to  any  participation  in  the  benefits  of  the 
ecclesiastical  covenant.  The  courts  were  also  dif- 
ferent. The  Sanhedrim  and  the  Synagogue,  to 
judge  of  religious  concerns,  w^ere  perfectly  distinct 
from  the  civil  Sanhedrim,  and  the  courts  of  the 
gates  which  judged  in  civil  matters.  The  Church 
had  the  power  of  settling  controversies  w4iich  re- 
spected the  religious  character,  by  the  ceremonial 
law ;  and  to  the  state  belonged  the  decision  of 
controversies  respecting  injuries  and  property,  by 
the  judicial  law.  The  priests  and  Levites  were  the 
ministers  of  religion,  acting  with  the  assistance  of 
the  prophets  occasionally  sent  by  the  Lord.  The 
civil  officers,  judges,  and  kings  were  magistrates, 
but  not  as  such  authorized  to  officiate  in  religious 
services.    And  althousch  the  civil  constitution  under- 


A    VISIBLE    SOCIETY.  31 

went  many  alterations  during  the  existence  of  the 
Hebrew  nation,  the  ecclesiastical  form  continued 
unaltered.  The  priesthood,  the  sacrifices,  and  the 
ceremonies  are  regulated  by  one  uniform  law. 
Divine  revelations,  however,  continue  from  time  to 
time,  and  inspired  men  are  commissioned  to  write 
for  the  canon  of  Scripture.  This  had  some  influ- 
ence upon  the  mode  of  social  worship. 

The  state  of  religion  among  the  Hebrews  was 
much  affected  by  their  connection  wdth  other  na- 
tions, and  the  Church  suffered  or  prospered  as  the 
Lord  withdrew  or  afforded  his  extraordinary  super- 
intendence. Eminent  prophets  and  priests,  and 
virtuous  judges  and  kings,  were  reared  up  from 
time  to  time,  as  the  instruments  of  reformation,  and 
the  sword  of  the  heathen  enemy  was  often  provi- 
dentially used  to  correct  and  punish  the  crimes  of 
God's  covenant  Israel.  The  period  of  suffering  was 
usually  an  admonition  to  the  duty  of  repentance 
and  fasting  ;  and  the  dawn  of  reformation  called 
the  nation  and  the  Church  to  a  solemn  renova- 
tion of  their  covenants  with  God.  After  the  revolt 
of  the  ten  tribes  from  the  house  of  David,  Jeroboam, 
their  political  leader,  made  Israel  to  sin  against  the 
Lord,  by  a  violation  of  the  covenant  of  Sinai.  Many 
pious  people  tacitly  countenanced  the  apostasy,  and 
for  several  ages  after  the  majority  established  idola- 
try, there  was  a  minority  in  this  declining  Church 
who  really  desired  to  serve  the  Lord. 

Prophets   were    sent   to   warn    this   degenerate 


32  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

Church,  and  to  gather  the  elect  of  God  into  their 
glorious  rest.  The  ten  tribes,  however,  soon  be- 
came mingled  with  the  heathen ;  they  forsook  their 
covenant  God,  and  the  Lord  left  them  to  a  gradual 
declension,  until  their  ecclesiastical  visibility  became 
entirely  extinct.  The  Jews,  upon  the  contrary,  still 
held  their  covenant  charter,  often  renewed  their 
obligations,  and  although  they  sinned  much,  and 
suffered  much,  the  Lord  preserved  them  as  his 
Church,  a  a  visible  Covenant  Society^  until  the  long- 
looked-for  event,  the  appearance  of  the  Son  of  God 
in  the  flesh,  had  been  accomplished.  The  state  of 
the  Jewish  Church,  at  the  period  of  Christ's  nativity, 
although  they  had  still  the  external  dispensation 
of  grace  made  at  Mount  Sinai,  and  established  by 
ecclesiastical  covenant,  was  different  in  many  im- 
portant subordiuate  instances  from  what  it  had  been 
upon  their  first  settlement  in  the  promised  land. 
The  state  of  society  in  general  was  much  altered 
from  what  it  had  been  fifteen  centuries  before  that 
time.  The  more  general  diffusion  of  literature,  and 
of  the  accompanying  arts  of  civilized  life,  had  pro- 
duced a  correspondent  change  upon  the  internal 
situation  of  the  Church,  as  well  as  upon  the  face  of 
the  world.  The  solemn  work  of  offering  sacrifice, 
which,  during  the  patriarchal  dispensation,  was  com- 
petent to  every  pious  man,  or  head  of  a  family,  w^as, 
by  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  committed  exclusively 
into  the  hands  of  the  authorized  priesthood.  And 
after  the  temple  of  the  Lord  had  been  erected  in 


PARISH    CHURCHES.  33 

Jerusalem,  in  that  place  alone  were  these  solemni- 
ties of  religion  to  be  performed. 

The  principal  part  of  social  and  practical  religion 
was  still  to  be  performed  in  domestic  society.  Con- 
venient places  of  worship  were,  however,  established 
in  every  part  of  Jiidea.  The  Proseiicha  was  the 
place  of  common  resort  for  prayer  and  conference  ; 
and  one  of  these,  surrounded  by  a  w^all  and-a  grove, 
without  any  roof  or  covering,  was  to  be  found  in 
the  different  parts  of  the  land  of  Israel. 

Instruction,  before  the  people  learned  to  read, 
was  conducted  entirely  by  the  conversation  of  the 
prophets,  the  priests,  the  Levites,  and  the  heads 
of  families.  The  progress  of  the  Jews  in  literature 
was  very  slow.  Eight  hundred  years  after  the  writ- 
ing of  the  law  by  Moses,  it  was  rare  to  find  a  copy 
of  the  book  in  which  it  was  contained.  During  the 
reign  of  the  pious  Josiah  there  was  some  difficulty 
in  procuring  a  copy  of  it  for  the  king's  use.  About 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  thereafter,  however, 
the  zeal  and  faithfulness  of  Ezra  was  rendered  the 
instrument,  in  the  hand  of  Providence,  in  turning 
the  attention  of  the  Church  to  the  word  of  God, 
now  much  enlarged  by  the  inspired  writings  of  the 
prophets. 

The  Proseucha  is  then  exchanged  for  the  Si/na- 
gogiie,  and  the  public  reading  and  exposition  of  the 
law  become  a  part  of  the  ordinary  worship  of  every 
Sabbath  in  every  part  of  Judea.  These  Synagogues 
were  the  parish  Churches  of  the  Jews.     They  were 


34  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

provided  with  a  regular  class  of  ecclesiastical  offi- 
cers, whose  duty  it  was  to  explain  the  law,  read 
the  Scriptures,  direct  the  public  devotion,  censure 
the  scandalous,  and  take  care  of  the  poor.  Where- 
soever the  Jews  emigrated  after  the  time  of  Ezra, 
they  carried  with  them  their  Scriptures  and  their 
ministers ;  and  they  formed  Synagogues  in  the  dif- 
ferent cities  of  the  nations  in  which  they  resided. 
They  never,  after  this  regular  organization,  fell  into 
gross  idolatry.  Unacquaintance  with  the  doctrines 
of  divine  revelation  is  essential  to  the  worship  of 
idols.  Such  was  the  visible  state  of  the  Church 
when  Jesus  was  born  in  Bethlehem,  a  city  of 
David.  There  indeed  prevailed  a  general  expecta- 
tion at  the  time  of  his  birth,  that  he  should  come ; 
but  very  few  appeared  at  that  time  to  understand 
the  real  character  of  the  promised  Messiah,  or  the 
end  of  his  mission.  In  the  fulness  of  time  our  Lord 
was  manifest  in  the  flesh,  made  of  a  woman,  made 
under  the  law,  in  order  to  fulfil  the  condition  of 
that  eternal  covenant,  which  had  already,  under 
various  dispensations,  brought  salvation  to  his  seed, 
and  preserved  his  visible  Church  as  his  covenant 
people  upon  earth,  for  the  space  of  four  thousand 
years.  He  came  to  fulfil  all  the  types,  to  abolish, 
in  his  death,  whatsoever  referred  to  his  incarnation 
and  sufferings,  and  to  introduce  a  new  dispensation 
of  the  covenant  of  grace,  which  should  last  un- 
altered until  the  end  of  time.  During  his  public 
ministry  he  pointed  out  the  abuses  which  prevailed 


JOHN   THE   BAPTIST.  35 

in  the  Jewish  Church,  explained  the  law,  and  pre- 
dicted both  the  dissolution  of  the  visible  dispen- 
sation which  the  Church  now  enjoyed,  and  the 
establishment  of  another  and  a  better  covenant. 
He  gave  the  suitable  instruction,  and  introduced 
rites  and  ordinances  which  were  after  his  resurrec- 
tion to  become  especial  parts  of  the  order  of  his 
Church.  The  covenant  with  Abraham  did  not 
alter  the  patriarchal  dispensation  of  grace,  but  by 
admitting  to  particular  privilege  a  certain  part  of 
the  existing  Church,  that  federal  transaction  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  new  order  established  in 
the  covenant  of  Sinai.  The  ministry  of  Jesus  did 
not  immediately  dissolve  the  ecclesiastical  covenant 
established  by  the  mediation  of  Moses,  and  often 
renewed  by  the  Jews ;  but  by  the  erection  of  a 
certain  part  of  the  existing  Church  into  a  special 
society,  holding  particular  communion  w^ith  himself, 
he  prepared  the  way  for  the  new  dispensation  of 
his  grace,  which,  by  destroying  w^hat  was  typical, 
would  extend  the  benefits  of  the  Abrahamic  cove- 
nant to  the  Gentile  world. 

It  had  been  long  a  custom  in  the  Church  to  use 
certain  baptisms  or  washings  as  a  religious  rite.  It 
was  practised  by  Jacob  and  by  Moses ;  and  in  the 
later  period  of  the  Jewish  Church,  they  were  in  the 
habit  of  washing  all  their  proselytes  immediately 
after  their  circumcision,  and  before  they  w^ere  ad- 
mitted to  further  ecclesiastical  privileges.  It  was 
also  common,  at  the  feast  of  the  Passover,  not  only 


36  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

to  eat  unleavened  bread  along  vv^ith  the  flesh  of  the 
paschal  lamb,  but  also  to  drink,  after  supper,  a  cup 
of  wine.  Divine  Providence  had  rendered  familiar 
to  the  visible  Church  those  simple,  but  significant 
rites,  which  were  afterwards,  by  a  positive  ordinance, 
to  be  rendered  the  visible  seals  of  the  covenant. 

John  Baptist  was  commissioned,  in  the  spirit  and 
po\ver  of  Elias,  to  prepare  the  w^aj  of  the  Lord, 
preach  the  gospel  of  repentance,  and  administer 
baptism  as  a  positive  ordinance  of  God.  This  was 
necessary  even  under  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  which 
was  not  as  yet  dissolved,  in  order  to  prepare  the 
way  for  the  other,  and  for  effectually  preserving 
the  unity  of  the  Church  when  the  forms  of  religion 
would  be  altered.  The  Kedeemer  himself  instructed 
his  immediate  disciples  to  expect  the  total  abolition 
of  the  Aaronic  priesthood,  of  the  temple,  and  the 
whole  temple  services.  He  habituated  them  to  the 
forms  of  the  Synagogue,  and  in  these  Churches  he 
himself  repeatedly  ministered.  He  thus '  showed 
the  perpetuity  of  such  services  in  his  Church ;  but 
he  never  undertook,  as  a  priest  of  the  temple,  to 
offer  sacrifices,  except  that  one  sacrifice  of  himself, 
whereby  he  perfected  forever  them  that  are  sancti- 
fied, and  in  which  he  at  once  fulfilled  the  design  of 
the  priesthood,  the  temple,  and  the  sacrifice.  Im- 
mediately before  his  sufferings,  after  having  par- 
ticipated of  the  last  passover  which  should  ever 
be  observed  with  divine  acceptance,  he  instituted 
the   siibsiiiiite   seal,   the    Sacrament    of   the    Lord's 


NEW   TESTAMENT    CHURCH.  37 

Supper,  as  a  positive  ordinance  to  be  observed  by 
his  Church  forever.  The  Head  of  the  Church  thus 
providing  for  its  external  order,  did,  at  the  awful 
and  appointed  hour,  fulfil  the  condition  of  the  cove- 
nant of  grace,  and  purchase  our  eternal  redemption 
by  his  suffering  unto  the  death  ;  bearing  our  sins 
upon  his  own  body  on  the  accursed  tree.  Thus 
was  the  Sinai  covenant  dissolved,  and  a  new 
covenant    established.* 


CHAPTER   HI. 

THE  STATE  OF  THE  CHURCH  FROM  THE  DEATH  OF 
CHRIST  UNTIL  THE  RISE  OF  ANTICHRIST. 

In  the  death  of  Christ,  all  the  types  and  cere- 
monies of  the  Old  Testament  have  had  their  full 
accomplishment.  The  peculiar  policy  of  the  Jew\s 
is  now  no  more.  The  veil  of  the  Temple  is  rent 
in  twain,  and  the  Holy  of  Holies  has  lost  its  pre- 
rogative. The  wall  of  partition  which  separated 
the  seed  of  Jacob  from  the  Gentiles  is  taken  down, 
and  into  one  Church  the  inhabitants  of  other  nations 
are  admitted  with  the  children  of  Abraham,  without 

♦  In  order  to  avoid  mistakes,  the  reader  must  keep  in  mind  that  tlie 
word  Covenant  occurs  in  two  distinct  senses  —  the  Covenant  of  Grace, 
and  the  Ecclesiastical  Covenant,  whereby  the  Covenant  of  Grace  is 
externally  dispensed.  The  Scriptures  direct  us  to  call  the  visible 
dispensation  of  the  means  of  Grace  a  Covenant.  Gen.  xvii.  10.  Jer. 
xxxi.  31-34:. 


38  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

distinction  of  privileges.  After  Christ's  resurrec- 
tion from  the  dead,  he  instructed  his  disciples  more 
particularly  in  the  doctrine  and  order  of  the  New 
Testament  Church ;  and,  giving  unto  his  eleven 
apostles  a  commission  as  ecclesiastical  officers,  he 
ascended  to  heaven  as  an  exalted  Mediator,  to 
administer  the  government  of  the  whole  empire  of 
created  existence,  in  subserviency  to  the  interest 
of  his  peculiar  kingdom  the  Church.  On  the  day 
of  Pentecost  he  poured  out  his  Holy  Spirit  in 
miraculous  profusion  upon  his  disciples,  in  order  to 
qualify  them  for  the  extraordinary  services  to  which 
he  called  them.  The  apostles  commence  their 
ministerial  work,  and  the  first  fruits  which  these 
laborers  reaped,  afforded  a  glorious  hope  of  the 
plenitude  of  the  approaching  harvest.  The  prom- 
ise to  Abraham,  which  was  divinely  restricted  to 
his  offspring  according  to  the  flesh,  until  the  seed 
Christ  came,  was  now  delivered  from  that  temporary 
restriction  by  the  same  divine  authority,  and  offered, 
with  all  its  increased  advantages,  to  men,  without 
distinction  of  nations  or  of  ranks.  All  the  families 
of  the  earth  are  now  invited  to  covenant  with  God. 
The  Covenant  Society,  ONE  in  every  age,  is  now 
exhibited  under  a  form  of  goverment  adapted  by 
divine  wisdom  to  this  last  and  most  perfect  dis- 
pensation of  grace  which  the  Kedeemer  makes  on 
earth.  Every  member  is  directed  to  submit  to  it,  and 
to  support  its  whole  order  forever.  The  apostles, 
having  equal   power,  are    the  only  ministers  and 


THE    CHURCH    ONE.  39 

rulers  of  the  Church;  and  they  are  authorized  to 
estabUsh  in  Jerusalem  the  model  upon  which  all 
Churches  are  to  be  formed  in  future,  throughout 
the  nations  of  the  earth.  In  their  own  behavior 
towards  one  another,  they  set  the  example  of  min- 
isterial parity;  and,  as  extraordinary  messengers, 
endowed  with  supernatural  gifts,  they  exercised 
authority  over  all  the  Churches.  This  measure 
was  necessary  to  place  the  kingdom  of  Messiah  in 
an  orderly  state,  that  the  constitution  divinely  pro- 
vided for  it  might  be  put  in  full  operation,  and  its 
future  administration  committed  into  the  hands  of 
the  ordinary  and  permanent  officers. 

The  apostles  preached  the  gospel,  explaining  the 
whole  economy  of  grace,  and  reduced  into  a  Church 
state  all  who  embraced  the  faith,  together  with 
their  children.  Their  visible  membership  in  God's 
Covenant  Society  was  immediately  sealed  by  bap- 
tism. As  the  rainbow,  already  in  the  heavens, 
became  by  divine  appointment  the  seal  of  the  cov- 
enant to  Noah,  and  circumcision,  practised  among 
all  the  nations  descended  from  Abraham,  became 
the  seal  of  the  covenant  of  Sinai  made  with  the 
seed  of  Jacob,  so  did  baptism  now  for  the  first  time 
become  the  seal  of  the  new  covenant,  although  for 
a  long  time  before  it  had  been  a  common  rite  of 
the  Jews,  and  since  the  time  of  John  the  Baptist 
a  positive  institution  of  heaven.  Baptism  is  a  sym^ 
bolical  washing.  It  represents  and  seals  the  union 
of  believers  with  Christ  Jesus  in  the  one  body  of 


40  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

the  invisible  Church.  It  also  signifies  the  solemn 
enfrac^ements  of  Christians  to  the  faith  and  obedi- 
ence  of  Christ  their  Lord,  as  members  in  covenant 
with  him  and  with  one  another,  to  maintain  in  the 
strength  of  his  grace  the  unity  of  the  spirit,  in  the 
bonds  of  peace.  It  is  administered  by  an  authorized 
officer  of  the  organized  ecclesiastical  society.  The 
element  is  water;  and  as  the  washing  is  not  de- 
signed to  cleanse  literally  the  body,  such  a  quantity 
of  water  is  to  be  applied  as  may  be  sufficient  to 
answer  the  purposes  of  a  symbol.  This  is  all  that 
is  necessary.  The  application  of  water  to  the  face 
of  a  recognized  Church  member  by  an  ordained 
minister  of  the  word,  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  one  God,  is  the  true  mode 
of  administering  this  initiating  sacrament.  No  less 
than  three  thousand  persons  were,  on  the  first  day 
in  which  the  apostles  publicly  preached  in  Jerusa- 
lem, formed  into  an  organized  Church,  and  baptized 
by  the  apostles. 

Jerusalem  was  a  large  and  populous  city.  It 
contained  upwards  of  a  million  of  inhabitants.  The 
synagogues,  the  parish  Churches  of  the  Jews,  in 
which,  under  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  they  met  for 
their  ordinary  worship,  amounted  in  this  city  to 
nearly  five  hundred.  The  apostles  embraced  every 
opportunity  which  offered  of  preaching  in  the  Jew- 
ish synagogues,  and  they  appeared  daily  at  the 
temple,  the  most  public  place  of  resort,  especially 
to  the  devout  Jews.      But  although  these   places 


RULE    OF   ADMISSION.  41 

afforded  an  opportunity  of  making  converts  to 
Christianity,  they  did  not  offer  an  equal  oppor- 
tunity for  the  peculiar  acts  of  Christian  worship. 
The  disciples  could  not  sanctify  the  first  day  of  the 
week  in  a  regular  manner,  in  these  promiscuous 
assemblies,  which  met  in  Solomon's  porch,  or  in  the 
Jewish  synagogues.  They  therefore  met  in  private 
houses,  in  such  numbers  as  could  conveniently 
associate  for  the  sanctification  of  the  Lord's  day ; 
and  in  these  select  assemblies  or  Churches,  was  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper  administered.  This 
solemn  institution,  which  is  the  New  Testament 
passover,  commemorates  the  death  of  Christ,  is  a 
mean  of  grace,  a  symbol  of  our  union  with  the 
Church,  a  seal  of  our  visible  membership,  a  badge 
of  our  separation  from  the  world,  and  a  public  social 
renovation  of  the  baptismal  oath  to  serve  the  Lord, 
and  abide  by  his  Church,  according  to  all  the  ordi- 
nances of  that  ecclesiastical  covenant  into  which 
God  admits  us  under  the  New  Testament. 

Steadfastness  in  the  apostles'  doctrine,  with  a 
consistent  course  of  obedience  to  the  whole  dis- 
pensation of  the  covenant  of  grace,  in  opposition 
to  every  contrary  system,  was  then  the  only  requi- 
site for  admission  to  Christian  communion. 

A  profession  of  believing  the  Bible  never  did 
constitute  the  condition  of  Christian  fellowship.  In 
the  first  erection  of  the  Church  at  Jerusalem,  no 
part  of  the  New  Testament  vv'as  committed  to 
writing ;  and  although  the  Jews  believed  the  Old 


42  HISTOmCAL    VIEW. 

Testament,  they  were  not  universally  admitted  into 
the  Church. 

The  rule  of  admission  into  the  Church  is  in- 
variable. He  who  knowingly  professes  a  belief  and 
approbation  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  who  engages 
to  submit  to  the  dispensation  of  that  covenant  in 
every  part,  and  whose  conduct  is  consistent  with 
these  declarations,  is  entitled  to  admission  among 
the  disciples  of  our  Lord.  Such  were  the  members 
of  the  apostolic  Churches.  Whensoever  the  con- 
trary appeared,  whether  by  heresies,  schisms,  or 
immoralities,  they  became  liable  to  censure.  The 
first  object  of  the  apostolic  ministry  was  to  teach 
and  persuade  men  to  embrace  Jesus  Christ,  and 
lepent  of  all  their  sins.  The  next  point  to  be 
gained  was  the  organization  of  the  converts  into  a 
regular  Church  state,  and  to  settle  the  ministry 
and  ordinances  among  them.  The  commission  of 
the  apostles  instructed  them  to  disciple  the  nations. 
When  a  Church  was  formed  in  Jerusalem,  the 
apostles  phiced  in  every  congregation  presbyters  of 
their  own  choice.  Of  these  presbyters,  or  elders, 
one  was  a  teacher  authorized  to  administer  the 
word  and  sacraments,  and  the  others  were  his  coun- 
sel and  aid  in  government  and  discipline.  To  the 
consistory  or  session  of  elders  the  whole  eccle- 
siastical power  of  the  Church  was  committed.  But 
these  Churches  were  all  connected  in  one  body  by 
representation ;  and  although  Jerusalem  contained, 
in   less   than   twenty  years  after  the  first  Church 


EVANGELISTS.  43 

was  organized  in  it,  no  less  than  twenty  congre- 
gations, they  are  all  one  Church.  By  the  representa- 
tive system  the  unity  of  the  empire  is  supported, 
however  numerous  its  provinces.  By  presbytery, 
several  distinct  congregations  are  united  in  one 
Church. 

Christianity  was  not  long  confined  to  Jerusalem. 
The  efforts  of  persecutors  were  the  means  of  ex- 
tending the  Church.  Many  of  the  ministers  were 
obliged  to  fly  from  Jerusalem,  and  they  went  to 
different  places,  preaching  the  gospel  and  forming 
Churches,  with  great  success.  Wherever  there 
w^ere  disciples,  they  associated  according  to  the 
ancient  practice  of  the  pious  Jews,  for  religious 
conference  and  prayer.  Several  societies  of  Chris- 
tians, meeting  for  private  social  worship  in  con- 
venient private  houses,  existed  throughout  Judea 
and  the  surrounding  nations.  As  soon  as  con- 
venient, however,  these  societes  were  organized 
into  congregations,  with  a  stated  ministry  and 
public  ordinances.  And  as  the  congregations  were 
formed,  they  were  regularly  presbyterated. 

The  rapidity  with  which  the  gospel  spread  during 
the  apostolic  age,  and  the  prospect  of  spreading  it 
still  further,  exposed  all  the  apostles  to  great  and 
unceasing  danger  and  toil.  They  had  the  care  of 
all  the  Churches  ;  but  they  could  not  be  present 
everywhere.  The  first  converts  were,  in  general, 
simple  and  pious ;  and  the  first  ministers  were 
faithful    and    zealous.     The    means  of  information 


44  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

were,  however,  few.  The  canon  of  Scripture  was 
not  yet  complete.  Copies  of  the  Scriptures  were 
scarce.  Pious  books  were  not  to  be  obtained.  Few 
persons  were  able  to  read.  The  Jewish  rites  and 
the  Heathen  superstition  were  not  easily  banished 
from  the  esteem  even  of  those  who  embraced  Chris- 
tianity. The  Church  required  the  regular  and  con- 
stant administration  of  ordinances,  and  the  stated 
ministry  stood  in  need  of  the  superintendence  of 
those  who  were  supernaturally  endowed  with  the 
gifts  of  miracles.  The  apostles  found  it  expedient 
to  employ  EVANGELISTS,  in  visiting  the  different 
places  in  which  the  gospel  had  been  planted,  in  the 
organization  of  new  congregations,  and  in  directing 
the  ministry,  where  it  was  regularly  established. 
These  extraordinary  ambassadors  are,  neverthless, 
careful  to  exhibit  to  the  Christian  world  the  true 
model  upon  which  all  Churches  are  to  be  consti- 
tuted. This  is  apparent  from  their  uniform  prac- 
tice. None  are  recognized  as  disciples  who  do  not 
profess  the  true  religion,  and  submit  to  all  its 
ordinances,  without  exception.  There  is  not  upon 
the  records  of  the  Church  during,  the  first  century, 
an  instance  of  any  one  being  admitted  to  Church 
fellowship,  who  deified  any  doctrinal  truth,  or  re- 
jected any  practical  institution.  If  it  happened 
that  any  disciple  did,  after  his  admission,  embrace 
heresy,  refuse  submission  to  order,  or  practise  any 
immorality,  he  was  brought  under  suitable  disci- 
pline.    According  to  the  nature  and  circumstances 


PRESBYTERIAN    CONSTITUTION.  45 

of  his  scandal,  he  was  admonished,  rebuked,  or  ex- 
communicated. Among  the  disciples  there  was  no 
distinction  of  rights  or  spiritual  privileges,  until 
organized  into  an  ecclesiastic  body.  The  several 
members  had  then  their  places  appointed  by  divine 
authority.  In  every  organized  congregation  there 
was  a  distinct  class  of  rulers,  and  all  others  are 
ruled  and  bound  to  submission  in  the  Lord.  To 
the  rulers  was  committed  exclusively  the  power  of 
the  hey 8  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  —  the  right  publicly 
to  teach  and  to  disciple.  Church  officers  alone  can 
exercise  any  part  of  discipline.  They  alone  can 
admit  into  Church  fellowship,  can  govern  those 
who  are  admitted,  and  can  exclude  from  the  privi- 
leges of  the  Church  those  who  are  unruly.  In  no 
case,  during  the  first  century,  did  a  congregation 
examine  and  admit  a  member,  judicially  try  and 
censure  the  disorderly,  or  excommunicate  the  re- 
bellious. 

In  every  congregation  there  were  ordained  sev- 
eral elders.  In  no  instance  is  an  organized  con- 
gregation under  the  care  of  one  officer.  These 
presbyters  were  ordained  to  office  by  other  pres- 
byters. There  is  not  one  case  in  the  apostolic  age, 
of  a  presbyter  being  ordained  to  office  by  any  single 
individual,  whether  an  ordinary  or  extraordinary 
minister.  As  the  ordinations  were  uniformly  con- 
ducted by  a  plurality  of  ordained  officers,  and  never 
by  one,  so  the  imposition  of  hands  is  the  significant 
rite  by  which  the  ministerial  authority  was  com- 


46  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

municated.  No  one  offered  to  preach  or  administer 
the  sacraments  without  regular  ordination,  except 
the  first  extraordinary  Prophets  and  Ambassadors, 
who  were  endowed  with  miraculous  gifts  to  attest 
their  divine  mis.sion.  Those  Christians  who  met 
in  private  fellowship  for  mutual  edification,  never 
employed  a  preacher,  or  attempted  to  ordain  an 
officer  for  themselves.  They  waited  until  the  rulers 
of  the  Church  visited  them  to  administer  ordinances, 
and  ordain  officers. 

A  self-organized  society,  w^ould  be  a  building  of 
man;  but  in  no  sense  the  house  of  God — "the 
Church  of  the  living  God,  the  pillar  and  ground 
of  the  truth." 

The  primitive  saints  had  a  common  cause,  and 
they  felt  a  common  interest  in  the  maintenance  of 
the  gospel.  Their  worldly  income  was  cheerfully 
devoted  to  that  end.  Like  the  members  of  one 
family,  they  all,  according  to  their  several  abilities, 
contributed  of  their  property  to  pious  purposes. 
Not  one  design  ever  failed  of  its  accomplishment 
from  want  of  pecuniary  resources  in  that  age  while 
any  Christian  was  in  possession  of  property  ade- 
quate to  the  purpose.  The  income  of  their  estates, 
and  the  earnings  of  their  labors,  were  deemed  a 
common  right,  and  employed  for  the  common  good. 
The  rulers  of  the  congregation  disposed  of  its  col- 
lections ;  and  when  paupers  were  so  numerous  as 
to  require  particular  attention,  distinct  officers  were 
appointed  to  inspect  their  state,  and  to  distribute, 


CORRUPTIONS.  47 

with  the  advice  of  the  Presbyters,  the  adequate 
rehef  from  the  general  fund.  The  officers  who 
served  the  tables  of  the  poor  were  called  deacons, 
a  word  which  signifies  servants.  They  had  no  au- 
thority in  ecclesiastical  proceedings,  any  further 
than  as  they  respected  temporalities. 

When  the  extraordinary  officers  had,  under  divine 
direction,  settled  the  church,  the  ordinary  ministry 
conducted  its  concerns  agreeably  to  its  Preshi/tenan 
constitution.  Each  Christian  congregation  had  a  pas- 
tor of  their  own  choice,  regularly  ordained  as  their 
bishop  by  a  judicatory  of  presbyters,  by  the  laying 
on  of  hands.  With  this  pastor,  or  angel  of  the 
Church,  were  associated,  for  the  purposes  of  gov- 
ernment, lay-elders  chosen  by  their  brethren,  and 
ordained  to  office  by  a  session  or  presbytery.  The 
minister  and  elders,  the  authorized  representation 
of  the  contrreg-ation,  constituted  the  session.  The 
sessions  of  several  congregations  formed  one  pres- 
bytery, and  all  the  presbyteries  were  under  the 
government  of  one  common  judicatory,  formed  upon 
the  principle  of  representation,  in  its  most  pure  and 
regular  form. 

This  system,  admirably  calculated  to  preserve  the 
purity  of  the  Church,  w^as  fully  exemplified  before 
the  death  of  the  apostles,  and  universally  prevailed 
in  the  first  century.  The  kingdom  of  Christ,  thus 
regularly  governed,  and  subsisting  in  the  midst  of 
hostile  nations  as  an  independent  empire  under  the 
protection  of  the  Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth, 


48  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

exhibited  to  the  woiid  the  power  of  God,  and  the 
wisdom  of  God  in  the  salvation  of  man.  It  did  not, 
however,  enjoy  peace  for  a  great  length  of  time. 
No  system,  however  perfect,  can  be  perfectl}^  ad- 
ministered by  frail  man.  God  was,  nevertheless, 
glorified  in  his  Son ;  the  Church  had  her  doctrine 
and  constitution  completed  ;  the  elect  were  savingly 
united  to  their  Lord  ;  and  the  world  was  left  with- 
out excuse.  These  ends  having  been  obtained, 
the  Church  soon  began  to  decline.  Heresies  and 
schisms  soon  distracted  her  congregations,  and  called 
forth  the  faithfulness  and  talents  of  her  sons,  to 
defend  her  order  and  her  doctrine.  The  Jewish 
converts  endeavored  to  make  the  Church  more 
similar  to  the  temple ;  and  the  Pagan  endeavored 
to  bring  it  to  bear  some  resemblance  to  the  house 
of  his  idols.  The  philosopher  endeavored  to  cor- 
rupt its  doctrine,  and  the  politician  to  model  its 
form  according  to  that  of  the  Roman  empire.  As 
the  godly  were  carried  home  to  glory,  and  the 
number  of  the  elect  on  earth  diminishing,  while 
the  number  of  professors  increased,  the  Church 
becomes  more  corrupt.  The  most  conspicuous  char- 
acters and  places  usually  set  the  example  of  con- 
formity to  the  world,  while  obscure  corners  shine 
with  the  light  of  gospel  truth  in  its  original  purity. 
Before  the  latter  end  of  the  second  century  the 
appearance  of  the  Christian  Church,  especially  in 
the  principal  cities,  had  altered  for  the  worse. 
It  is  generally  the  case  that  the  history  of  the 


HUMAN    INSTITUTIONS.  49 

Church  is  considered  subordinate  to  that  of  worldly 
empires.  A  historian  of  American  affairs,  even  in 
the  present  day,  would  be  very  apt  to  overlook  the 
most  pious  and  orderly  followers  of  Jesus;  and  if 
he  wrote  of  the  Church  at  all,  he  would  bestow 
attention,  not  in  proportion  to  the  purity  and  faith- 
fulness of  ecclesiastical  bodies,  but  in  proportion 
to  their  wealth,  their  numbers,  and  their  worldly 
influence.  The  few  books  which  have  escaped  the 
destruction  of  literature  in  the  dark  ages  cannot, 
therefore,  be  considered  as  exhibiting  to  view  the 
most  pure  branches  of  the  Church.  They  direct  our 
attention  to  those  most  conspicuous  in  the  world, 
though  probably  the  least  worthy  of  our  notice. 
The  view,  notwithstanding,  which  they  afford  us, 
is  that  of  a  declining  empire.  Christianity,  indeed, 
was  extensively  diffusing  itself  in  name;  but  the 
purity  of  the  Church  had  lost  its  lustre.  Heresy  and 
strife  divided  the  professed  followers  of  Jesus  into 
factions.  Human  inventions  encumbered  divine 
worship ;  carnal  views  influenced  discipline  ;  and 
ambition  changed  the  form  of  government  in  those 
Churches  which  occupied  the  most  distinguished 
situations  in  the  Roman  empire.  A  faithful  voice 
was  raised  against  these  deviations  from  apostolic 
jDurity.  This  voice  is  feeble,  as  it  reaches  our  ears ; 
but  it  must  have  been  at  first  bold  and  energetic, 
seeing  it  has  reached  us  at  all,  through  so  vast  a 
wilderness,  and  over  the  innumerable  interposing 
obstacles  introduced  by  the  Roman  Antichrist.  Be- 
4 


50  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

fore  the  end  of  the  second  century,  some  ambitious 
ministers  began  to  abuse  their  influence,  their  leis- 
ure, their  wealth,  and  their  literature,  as  the  means 
of  usurping  power  over  their  brethren.  The  pious 
disciples  who  formed  the  Churches  at  the  death  of 
the  apostles,  were  now  admitted  into  the  Church 
triumphant.  They  transmitted  the  name  Christian 
to  their  successors;  but  man  is  naturally  corrupt, 
and  grace  is  not  hereditary.  Iniquity  abounded, 
the  love  of  many  waxed  cold,  the  means  of  infor- 
mation w^ere  scanty,  books  were  accessible  to  very 
few,  and  thus  the  state  of  the  Church  offered  an 
easy  prey  to  the  rapacity  of  the  ambitious.  To 
support  themselves  in  their  usurpation  these  time- 
serving pastors  left  no  art  untried.  Like  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees,  they  pretended  superior  zeal  and 
sanctity,  and  they  endeavored  to  make  void  the  law 
by  their  traditions.  They  represented  the  Jewish 
as  the  model  of  the  Christian  ministry,  and  taught 
their  disciples  that  Aaron  typified  not  the  Redeem- 
er, the  high  priest  of  our  profession,  but  a  prelate 
of  the  Church.  The  deacon,  who  at  first  ministered 
by  order  of  session  to  the  wants  of  the  poor,  began 
to  employ  servants  under  him,  and  in  process  of 
time  the  office  was  entirely  changed,  and  rendered 
a  spiritual  ministry.  The  presbyter,  however,  long 
retained  his  rank,  and  contended  for  his  rights. 
But  after  Christianity  became  the  religion  of  the 
Roman  empire,  it  was  mingled  w^ith  paganism ;  and 
the  external  form  of  the  Church  was  also  modified 


THE    SAINTS    PRESERVED.  51 

according  to  the  civil  government.  The  bishop 
claimed  a  superior  power  over  the  presbyter,  and, 
armed  with  the  authority  of  the  Roman  emperor,  he 
obtained  his  object.  Patriarchs  and  metropolitnns 
are  higher  branches  of  the  hierarchy ;  and  these 
dignitaries  of  the  Church,  forcing  themselves  upon 
our  attention,  hide  from  our  view^  the  more  pious, 
faithful,  and  orderly  congregations,  which  still  re- 
tain the  apostolic  doctrine,  and  worship,  and  dis- 
cipline. The  word  Bishop,  began  in  the  second 
century  to  be  applied,  in  some  places,  to  moderators 
of  the  presbyterial  courts,  and  afterwards  to  those 
w^ho  pretended  higher  ministerial  authority  than 
ordinary  ministers ;  but  this  application  was  by  no 
means  universal.  The  zeal  of  the  apostles,  and  their 
contemporary  ministers  of  the  gospel,  carried  them 
through  the  different  nations,  and  the  subsequent 
persecutions  drove  many  able  ministers  into  every 
part  of  the  known  world. 

Churches  were  settled  in  the  different  nations, 
and  at  a  distance  from  the  seat  of  the  Eoman  em- 
pire these  Churches  enjoyed  their  primitive  order 
and  truth. 

According  to  prophecy,  however,  the  spirit  of 
the  world  gradually  prevailed  over  the  exertions 
of  piety,  in  the  most  conspicuous  nations.  The 
ecclesiastical  courts  were  unable  to  check  the  o-row- 

o 

ing  apostasy.  The  Church  increased,  and  regular 
representative  assemblies  were  not  permitted  to 
meet    by   the  .  persecutors.     And   even   when    the 


52  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

magistracy  of  the  empire  of  Home  professed  Chris- 
tianity, the  ecclesiastical  councils  were  influenced 
in  a  high  degree  by  the  civil  power,  and  the  cor- 
ruption had  already  become  too  general  to  be  now 
effectually  prevented.  Synods,  composed  partly  of 
apostates,  and  the  sword  hanging  over  their  heads, 
are  not  competent  to  produce  reformation.  These 
causes,  together  with  the  civil  wars  and  final  dis- 
memberment of  the  empire  of  Rome,  nourished 
prelatic  ambition,  and  at  last  placed  in  the  chair  of 
Papal  supremacy  Boniface  the  Third.  This  event 
took  place,  in  opposition  to  the  will  of  the  strug- 
gling Churches,  in  the  year  606.  It  was  effected 
by  the  agency  of  Phocas,  that  infamous  tyrant,  who 
waded  to  the  imperial  throne  through  blood.  The 
Roman  supremacy  was  not  yet,  however,  generally 
recognized.  Princes  and  Emperors,  Churches,  and 
even  whole  nations,  testified  against  that  deed,  as  a 
disgrace  to  the  annals  of  history.  The  most  pure 
and  faithful  parts  of  the  Christian  Church  beheld 
with  anguish  the  grand  apostasy  ;  but  they  still, 
though  in  a  great  measure  unnoticed  and  unknown, 
retained  the  apostolic  order.  Their  bishops  were 
parish  ministers.  Their  elders  were  representa- 
tives of  the  congregations,  and  their  deacons  were 
the  trustees  of  the  poor.  The  prelacy  had,  indeed, 
gradually  paved  the  way  for  the  Pope's  usurpation. 
The  nations  of  Europe  in  general,  and  some  of  the 
Asian  and  African  governments,  were  now  called 
Christian.     God's  visible  Covenant  Society  became 


THE   RISE   OF   ANTICHRIST.  53 

extremely  corrupt,  and  like  the  house  of  Israel, 
had  broken  their  covenant.  Still,  however,  the 
Lord  preserved  his  saints ;  and  the  saints  struggled 
against  the  prevailing  iniquity.  In  every  •  nation 
there  were  numbers  who  did  not  acquiesce  in  the 
apostasy.  It  was  a  very  small  proportion  of  the 
Church  which  fully  submitted  to  the  supremacy  of 
Antichrist. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE    STATE    OF  THE   CHRISTIAN  CHURCH    FROM    THE 
RISE   OF   ANTICHRIST   UNTIL  THE   PRESENT   DAY. 

The  Redeemer  instructed  his  inspired  apostles  to 
predict  the  rise  of  a  peculiar  adversary  to  his  gospel. 
The  universal  prevalence  of  correct  principle  and 
regular  ecclesiastic  order  he  taught  them  to  behold 
at  a  distance.  By  the  splendid  triumphs  of  the 
truth  in  the  first  ages,  the  power  of  religion  was 
exemplified,  the  divinity  of  the  Messiah  demon- 
strated, and  the  vast  number  of  God's  elect  children 
who  were  at  that  period  on  the  earth,  prepared  for 
their  everlasting  inheritance.  As  soon  as  these 
purposes  were  accomplished,  the  faithful  disciples 
began  to  realize  the  truth  of  the  prophecy,  that  an 
awful  apostasy  should  afiect  the  world,  and  the  true 
witnesses  become  reduced  to  sackcloth  and  poverty. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  Boniface  assumed 
the  title  of  universal  bishop,  and  claimed  spiritual 


54  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

.power  over  all  the  earth,  his  successor  Pope  Stephen 
was  created  a  temporal  prince,  by  the  efforts  of 
Pepin,  the  usurper  of  the  French  throne.  This 
accession  of  power  was  highly  acceptable  to  the 
pretended  successor  of  Peter,  and  vicegerent  of 
Jesus  Christ.  It  enabled  him  to  enforce  his  spirit- 
ual supremacy.  It  is  not,  however,  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  exarchate  of  Ravenna,  or  his  possessing  the 
government  of  some  of  the  Itahan  states,  that  con- 
stitutes the  Roman  Antichrist.  He  who'  is  the  visi- 
ble head  of  that  system  of  superstition,  which,  under 
the  Christian  name,  is  the  greatest  enemy  of  the 
Christian  religion  which  ever  existed,  is  on  that 
account  alone  the  man  of  sin,  and  son  of  perdition. 
By  virtue  of  his  spiritual  supremacy  he  ruled  the 
nations  of  Europe  ;  but  they  never  submitted  to 
his  authority  as  a  civil  Emperor.  The  kings  of  the 
earth  swore  allegiance  to  him,  not  because  he  ruled 
the  petty  states  of  Italy,  but  because  he  was  the 
Pope.  His  own  civil  power,  like  the  magistracy  of 
the  nations  under  his  spiritual  domination,  is  one  of 
those  horns  with  which  the  monster  of  blasphemy 
shed  the  blood  of  the  saints.  The  Papacy  does  not 
cease  to  be  Antichrist,  even  when  stripped  of  civil 
authority.  The  rise  of  Antichrist  is  to  be  dated  in 
the  sixth  year  of  the  seventh  century. 

The  visible  Church  then  beheld  a  usurper  upon 
a  spiritual  throne,  claiming  the  whole  government 
of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  upon  earth.  The  Church 
of  Rome  acquiesced  in  the  claim;  but  the  great 


THE    WALDENSES.  55 

body  of  Christians  opposed  his  pretensions.  The 
Christian  ministry,  among  all  the  nations,  were  in- 
dependent of  the  see  of  Rome  during  the  seventh 
century,  except  those  of  Italy  ;  and  a  great  number, 
even  of  them  refused  submission  to  him.  During 
the  eighth  century,  when  his  power  was  greatly 
increased,  the  second  council  of  Nice  favored  his 
superstition ;  but  seven  years  thereafter  Charle- 
magne held  a  council  at  Frankfort,  consisting  of 
three  hundred  clergymen  from  various  countries, 
which  condemned  the  council  of  Nice,  and  reversed 
its  idolatrous  acts.  When  the  goverments  of  those 
nations  which  had  formerly  been  subject  to  Rome 
acknowledged  the  Pope's  supremacy,  their  national- 
Churches  were  constrained  into  the  same  measure. 
Even  then  all  the  Churches  in  the  Popish  nations 
did  not  recognize  the  Pontifical  authority.  It  was 
not  until  the  eleventh  century  that  the  Churches 
of  Europe  could  be  called  ONE  with  the  Church  of 
Rome.  Those  persons,  of  course,  who  in  the  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  world  renounced  the  papal  author- 
ity, were  persecuted  as  heretics.  The  number  and 
frequency  of  these  persecutions  are  sufficient  to 
show  that  vast  numbers  of  congregations  and  min- 
isters were,  during  the  darkest  ages,  opposed  to 
the  Antichristian  system.  The  Roman  persecutors, 
thirsting  for  blood,  discovered,  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, a  Christian  people,  entirely  distinct  from  the 
Papal  Church,  enjoying  the  ordinances  of  the  gos- 
pel in  their  primitive  simplicity.     The  Waldenses, 


56  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

dwelling  in  the  south  of  France  and  the  valleys  of 
Piedmont;  were  a  people  not  numbered  among  the 
nations.  Providence  had  separated  them  as  a  Cov- 
enant Society,  from  the  declining  Churches  of  the 
nations,  that  they  might  exhibit  to  the  world  the 
primitive  order,  when  Antichristian  power  should 
have  arrived  at  its  height.  Reinerius,  the  Inquisitor- 
general,  describes  these  newly  discovered  heretics 
about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century. 

The  Waldenses  were  in  no  connection  with  the 
Church  of  Rome  or  its  clergy.  They  maintained  a 
system  of  distinct  ecclesiastical  policy  from  the 
apostolic  age.  They  had  their  friends  scattered  in 
many  nations,  diligently,  but.  without  attracting 
much  notice,  diffusing  their  peculiar  sentiments. 
This  grand  enemy,  the  inquisitor,  in  order  to  rouse 
the  indignation  of  the  papacy  against  these  here- 
tics, as  he  calls  them,  bestows  upon  them  three 
characters,  which  now  secure  the  admiration  of 
Christians  to  these  genuine  disciples  of  our  Lord. 
Their  enemies  being  judges,  they  are  the  purest 
Church.  1.  "  This  sect  is  the  oldest.  It  endures, 
say  some,  from  the  time  of  the  apostles.  2.  It  is 
the  most  general.  There  is  scarce  any  country 
where  it  is  not.  3.  It  hath  a  show  of  piety.  They 
live  justly  before  men,  and  believe  all  things  rightly 
concerning  God;  only  they  blaspheme  the  Church 
of  Rome  and  the  clergy."  The  following  character 
of  this  Church  is  drawn  by  'the  Centuricators  of 
Magdeburgh,  from  an  old  Manuscript.     "  The  Val- 


THE   WALDENSES.  57 

lenses  defined  the  Church  of  Christ,  That  Society 
which  heareth  the  sincere  word  of  Christ,  and  useth  the 
sacraments  instituted  hy  him,  in  whatever  place  it  exist. 
They  consider  the  Scripture  as  the  supreme  stan- 
dard of  doctrine.  The  reading  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures they  represent  as  necessary  unto  all  men. 
The  decrees  of  councils  are  to  be  approved  as  they 
agree  with  the  word  of  God.  They  own  two  sac- 
raments only,  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper.  They 
declare  the  Church  of  Rome  to  be  the  whore  of 
Babylon,  and  will  not  own  the  pope  or  bishops. 
They  call  the  dedication  of  Churches,  the  obser- 
vance of  holydays,  and  all  human  inventions  in 
religious  worship,  diabolical  inventions."  Arch- 
bishop Usher  has  extracted  from  the  History  of 
^neas  Sylvius  the  following  additional  character- 
istics :  "  They  deny  the  hierarchy,  maintaining  that 
theKe  is  no  difference  among  the  priests  on  account 
of  dignity  of  office;  but  only  of  usefulness  and  pu- 
rity of  life.  Ministers  should  be  content  with  the 
contributions  of  the  people.  Every  person  should 
have  access  to  the  free  preaching  of  the  gospel. 
No  sin  ought  to  be  tolerated.  There  is  no  day 
holy  but  the  Lord's  day.  The  Lord's  supper  is  to 
be  consecrated  in  the  Church  only,  and  by  a  minis- 
ter ;  neither  does  its  efficacy  depend  more  on  a 
good  than  a  bad  man,  if  he  be  a  lawful  minister. 
Both  men  and  women,  and  little  children,  are  to  be 
baptized  in  the  Church  by  the  priest." 

These  eminently  pious  Churches,  which  so  long 


58  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

maintained  tiie  primitive  order,  while  the  whole 
world  was  wondering  after  the  beast,  were  inter- 
mingled with  persons  of  a  very  opposite  description. 
The  purest  Churches  have  had  tares  growing  up 
with  the  wheat;  and  wicked  men  have  resided  in 
the  same  place  with  the  most  virtuous.  The  popish 
writers  attempted  to  confound  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  land  with  the  Church ;  and  to  charge  upon 
the  visible  Covenant  Society  the  errors  which  here- 
tics, apostates,  and  nominal  professors  may  have 
propagated  in  that  period.  The  Creed  of  the  Church 
of  the  Waldenses,  however,  was  truly  evangelical ; 
and  the  order  of  the  Church,  in  their  terms  of  com- 
munion, form  of  government,  exercises  of  worship, 
and  administration  of  discipline,  was  strictly  Pres- 
byterian. To  the  preservation  of  their  ecclesiastical 
order  they  were  bound  by  oath ;  nor  was  any  con- 
sidered as  belonging  to  this  Church  who  did  .not 
take  the  Covenant.  God  in  his  providence  did,  in 
these  churches,  not  only  preserve  a  seed  to  serve 
him,  and  prepare  his  children  for  glory  ;  but  he  also 
provided  a  seminary  for  the  instruction  of  minis- 
ters and  saints,  who  should  afterwards  be  instru- 
mental in  overturning  the  empire  of  the  Papacy. 
The  persecutions  of  these  witnesses  were  frequent 
and  bloody.  They  were  scattered  among  the  na- 
tions, and  carried  with  them  their  knowledge,  their 
piety,  and  their  forms  of  religious  worship.  In  the 
thirteenth  century  they  spread  and  prevailed  so 
far,  that  the  Pope  thought  it  necessary  to  exert  his 


COVENANTERS.  59 

utmost  efforts  to  suppress  them.  They  were  found 
m  Germany,  Bohemia,  Poland,  France,  and  Britain. 
It  is  computed  that  in  France  alone  one  million  of 
them  suffered  martyrdom.  They  were,  however, 
remarkably  preserved  in  some  of  those  coim tries 
to  which  they  had  been  banished ;  and,  like  the 
scattered  Jews,  before  the  coming  of  Christ  in  the 
flesh,  were  preparing  the  way  of  the 'Lord  in  the 
different  parts  of  the  world. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  there 
were  about  eighty  thousand  of  these  Covenanters  in 
Austria  and  the  neighboring  territories.  They  every- 
where adhered  to  their  covenant  engagements,  and 
pertinaciously  opposed  popery,  and  defended  their 
own  principles  even  unto  death.  They  were  con- 
sidered as  poor ;  and  being  aliens,  in  those  different 
countries  into  which  they  were  banished,  they  were 
despised  ;  and  the  contempt  was,  by  the  Providence 
of  God,  a  shield  and  protection  to  them.  Many 
eminent  men,  in  the  various  nations,  however,  were 
enlightened  by  their  doctrines  and  examples ;  and 
these  again,  by  their  writings,  diffused  their  senti- 
ments, in  some  degree,  throughout  the  various  col- 
leges and  seminaries  of  literature.  The  progress 
of  knowledge  was  slow,  but  it  was  certain.  The 
celebrated  Walter  Lollard,  who  suffered  martyrdom 
in  the  year  1322,  spread  through  Germany  the 
doctrines  of  the  Waldenses,  and  the  famous  John 
Wickliff  filled  almost  all  Europe  with  the  same 
principles.     The  scattered  Waldenses,  still  despised, 


60  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

and  atill  holding  fast  their  integrity,  preserved 
among  themselves  the  true  order  of  the  Christian 
Church  ;  and  contributed  to  instruct  those  in  the 
established  Churches  of  the  nations,  who  had  cour- 
ao^e  to  think  for  themselves.  In  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury,  all  Europe  became  sensible  of  the  need  of  a 
reformation  of  the  church  of  Rome.  A  council  as- 
sembled at  Constance,  which  declared  the  necessity 
of  a  reformation,  but  manifested  also  that  it  was 
not  to  be  expected  from  the  interested  anti-Christian 
priesthood. 

John  Huss,  a  man  of  distinguished  talents  and 
erudition,  professor  of  divinity  at  fhe  celebrated 
university  of  Prague,  had,  together  with  his  inti- 
mate friend  Jerome,  embraced  many  of  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Waldenses.  Although  in  the  com- 
munion of  the  Roman  Church,  they  recommended 
the  works  of  Wickliff,  and  vainly  supposed  that 
their  exertions  might  serve  to  reform  the  Church, 
and  recall  her  from  Babylon.  They  were,  however, 
successful  in  exciting  an  uncommon  interest  for  a 
reformation,  and  directing  the  Germans  to  a  more 
favorable  opinion  of  those  old  dissenters,  the  Wal- 
denses, who  lived  among  them.  After  the  death 
of  Huss,  a  number  who  had  been  influenced  by  his 
doctrines,  actually  joined  the  Church  of  the  Wal- 
denses, who  were  settled  in  Bohemia.  They  adopted 
one  confession  of  faith.  They  also  agreed  upon  one 
covenant,  suited  to  the  present  state  of  the  Church, 
which,  according  to  the  established  usage  of  tlie 


PROTESTANT   REFORMATION.  61 

Waldenses,  was  subscribed  by  all  the  members  of 
the  society.  Voetius,  who  had  a  good  opportunity 
of  knowing,  assures  us  that  both  the  Waldenses  of 
Thoulouse  and  the  Hussites  of  Bohemia,  ratified 
their  federal  .transactions  with  solemn  oath.  Thus, 
while  the  papal  power  was  at  its  height,  and  the 
horns  of  the  beast,  the  kingdoms  of  Europe  who 
agreed  to  support  popery,  directed  against  the  wit- 
nesses of  Christ,  Providence  was  preparing  the  na- 
tions for  that  remarkable  event  which  took  place  in 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  pe- 
riod of  the  Protestant  reformation  will  be  forever 
eminent  in  Church  history.  The  anti-Christian  em- 
pire was  shaken  to  its  centre,  and  never  can  recover 
its  former  ghastly  dominion  over  the  minds  of  men. 
The  exertions  of  the  Waldenses  became  successful. 
They  had  prepared,  in  a  great  measure,  the  public 
mind  for  a  breach  from  the  Church  of  Rome.  God 
poured  out  his  blessed  Spirit.  Select  and  suitable 
instruments  for  the  reformation  were  found  and 
employed.  The  state  of  the  political  world  was 
made  subservient  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  Knowl- 
edge, zeal,  and  unfeigned  piety  were  promoted, 
and  -vast  multitudes  converted  unto  God.  Zuin- 
glius,  Luther,  and  Calvin,  and  many  other  eminent 
men,  were  employed  in  opposing  the  superstition, 
and  they  had  the  happiness  of  seeing  the  pleasure  of 
the  Lord  prospering  in  their  hands.  Imbibing  the 
doctrines,  and  animated  by  the  example  of  the  Yal- 
lenses,  these  eminent  men  contended  for  the  faith. 


62  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

The  reformers  were  ministers  at  first  in  the  po- 
pish Church,  and  sought  its  reformation.  They 
considered  the  papacy  as  distinct  from  the  Catholic 
Church.  This  is  a  judicious  distinction.  The  Cath- 
olic Church  long  existed  without  a  pope.  By  the 
amhitious  dexterity  of  the  Roman  pontiffs,  the  pa- 
pacy was  by  degrees  incorporated  with  the  Church; 
but  it  was  really  as  foreign  to  its  genuine  constitu- 
tion, as  a  new  citadel  erected  by  a  successful  usurp- 
er, would  be  to  an  ancient  city.  The  few  virtuous 
ministers  which  had  remained  in  the  Church  acted 
upon  this  distinction.  They  opposed  the  citadel, 
but  still  continued  in  the  city.  The  city  had  been 
a  long  time  unsafe,  but  it  had  not  been  absolutely 
deprived  of  its  ancient  liberties,  until  the  council 
of  Trent  had  completely  established  every  part  of 
anti-Christianism  by  ecclesiastical  law.  From  that 
period  Romanists  are  to  be  considered  as  excom- 
municated from  the  privileges  of  God's  visible  Cov- 
enant Society.  They  are  preserved  in  this  excom- 
municated state  as  barren  branches,  which  are  to 
be  visibly  burned. 

The  reformation  met  with  opposition.  It  pro- 
gressed, nevertheless,  undgr  the  smiles  of  an  ap- 
proving Providence,  and  in  different  nations  they 
who  sought  the  Lord  publicly  covenanted.  In  the 
year  1530  the  Lutherans  performed  this  important 
duty.  They  framed  the  famous  League  of  Smal- 
kalde,  which  was  solemnly  renewed  four  years 
thereafter.     On   the    20th  day  of  July,  1537,  the 


LEAGUE    OF   SMALKALDE.  63 

capital  articles  of  the  Christian  religion  and  disci- 
pline were  sworn  publicly  by  the  senate  and  people 
of  Geneva.  As  soon  as  the  reformation  put  on  a 
regular  appearance,  and  the  reformers  had  erected 
a  separate  communion  from  the  Roman  Church,  the 
Waldenses  strengthened  their  hands,  and  joined  in 
their  churches.  On  the  11th  of  November,  1571, 
in  a  general  assembly,  they  entered  into  a  solemn 
bond  of  union.  They  all  bind  themselves,  under 
the  sanction  of  an  oath,  to  maintain  inviolably  the 
ancient  union  between  all  the  faithful  of  the  evan- 
gelic religion  and  the  Waldenses  down  to  their 
own  time.  They  promise  to  submit  to  the  good  ex- 
ternal regulations  and  ecclesiastic  discipline  already 
established,  and  to  this  period  maintained  among 
them.  The  Churches  in  Switzerland,  in  France,  and 
in  Holland,  of  all  the  Churches  of  the  continent  of 
Europe,  attained  to  the  highest  purity;  and  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  between  the  years  1638  and 
1649,  appeared  at  the  very  zenith  of  the  reforma- 
tion. The  Lutherans  still  retained  the  monstrous 
absurdity  of  Christ's  bodily  presence  in  the  sacra- 
ment, and  in  framing  the  external  order  of  their 
Churches,  adhered  too  closely  to  the  popish  model. 
The  Church  of  England,  especially,  preserved  her 
resemblance  to  the  Church  of  Eome.  The  scanty 
reformation  which  took  place  in  that  kingdom,  al- 
though overruled  by  Divine  Providence  for  good  to 
the  Christian  cause  in  general,  was  very  far  from 
being  under  the  immediate  direction  of  Christian 


64  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

principle.  It  was  not  conducted  by  an  inquiring 
people  and  enlightened  ministry.  The  Church 
really  had  little  hand  in  it.  It  was  a  creature  of 
state  poHcy.  The  Eighth  Henry,  a  truly  irreligious 
man,  produced  the  reformation  of  England,  in  order 
to  gratify  his  lust,  his  avarice,  and  his  ambition. 
He  was  a  king  of  haughty  passions,  and  of  princi- 
ples the  most  despotic  To  be  revenged  of  the 
Pope,  Henry  was  willing  that  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land should  be  altogether  disconnected  from  the 
Eoman;  and  in  order  to  effect  this,  he  consented 
that  some  deviations  might  be  made  from  the  doc- 
trine and  order  of  the  papacy.  The  alterations 
were,  however,  very  few.  None  were  tolerated  by 
the  king,  except  such  as  were  necessary  to  estab- 
lish independency  of  Rome.  He  claimed  to  himself 
the  authority  of  which  he  stripped  His  Holiness. 
The  nation  and  the  priesthood  acquiesce  in  the 
claim,  and  the  impious  Henry  the  Eighth  is  pro- 
claimed the  head  of  the  Church  of  England.  The 
principal  advantage  which  the  nation  obtained  by 
the  change  was,  that  now  they  had  their  Pope  not 
at  Rome  but  in  London.  In  Scotland  the  state  of 
the  nation  was  rendered,  by  Divine  Providence,  fa- 
vorable to  the  propagation  of  religion.  The  Refor- 
mation commenced  with  the  most  learned  and  em- 
inent ministers.  It  was  gradually  advanced,  not  as 
an  engine  of  state  power,  but  as  an  interest  totally 
distinct  from  the  policies  of  the  present  world.  The 
crown  was  opposed  to  the  Protestant  interest,  and 


SCOTTISH   REFORMERS.  65 

could  not,  therefore,  under  the  mask  of  friendship, 
introduce  anti-Christian  corruption  into  the  Reforma- 
tion Church ;  and  it  was  too  weak  to  destroy  the 
Protestant  cause.  The  nobiHty  overawed  the  mon- 
archy, and  shielded  the  commonalty  from  danger ; 
while  the  faithful  services  of  John  Knox,  and  other 
able  ministers,  propagated  the  reformation  among 
the  people,  until  the  mass  of  the  nation  being 
under  its'  influence,  they  agreed  to  alter  the  civil 
government,  and  give  it  a  direction  contrary  to 
popery.  In  Scotland  the  monarchy  had  not  power 
to  subdue  religion  into  an  engine  of  state  policy ; 
but  Christianity  influenced  the  national  society  to 
render  its  civil  constitution  subordinate  to  the  king- 
dom of  Christ.  The  Church  is  recognized  as  a 
regular  and  independent  empire,  of  which  Christ  Jesus 
is  alone  the  King  and  Head  —  as  an  empire  pos- 
sessing officers  and  courts,  which  have  the  exclusive 
right  of  regulating  its  concerns  by  the  divine  law. 
Civil  government  is  considered  as  an  ordinance  of 
God,  for  the  preservation  of  peace  and  order  among 
men,  and  for  regulating  every  wordly  interest 
among  Christians,  in  subordination  to  godliness  and 
honesty.  The  doctrines  of  religion  are  briefly  stated. 
The  corruptions  of  popery  are  summed  up  and  con- 
demned. The  worship  is  reduced  to  its  primitive 
simplicity.  The  ministry  relinquishes  all  imitations 
of  the  Roman  hierarchy ;  and  ecclesiastical  discipline 
is  exercised  by  the  authorized  officers  of  Christ's 
peculiar  kingdom.  The  Scottish  reformers,  after 
5 


66  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

the  example  of  the  saints  in  other  places,  and  in 
former  times,  repeatedly  enter  into  covenant  with 
God.  They  engage  themselves,  in  the  strength  of 
promised  grace,  and  with  the  solemnity  of  an  oath, 
to  maintain  and  promote,  in  their  several  places 
and  stations,  the  interests  of  the  true  religion, 
according  to  the  law  of  God.  Christianity,  thus 
regulating  the  individual  and  collective  concerns 
of  these  excellent  and  godly  men,  appears  as  a 
system  worthy  of  its  divine  Author,  and  wisely 
adapted  to  promote  the  temporal  happiness  of 
nations,  and  the  everlasting  felicity  of  men. 

Tlie  time  had  not  yet,  however,  arrived,  which 
God  had  set  for  the  destruction  of  Antichrist,  and 
which  he  revealed  by  the  prophets  to  the  Church, 
as  the  wished-for  period  when  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  should  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and 
of  his  Christ.  By  the  reformation,  several  very 
important  ends  were  accomplished.  1.  The  human 
mind  was  roused  from  its  lethargy,  and  all  its 
natural  energies  excited  to  that  variety  of  action, 
which  is  calculated  to  strengthen  and  improve  the 
imderstanding,  and  contribute  to  the  production  of 
that  high  degree  of  civilization  which  is  to  jDrevail 
when  the  Church  shall  appear  in  her  millennial 
splendor.  2.  The  elements  of  sacred  truth  were 
discovered,  collected,  and  explained.  The  holy 
Scriptures  were  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  the 
anti-Christian  Church,  translated  into  a  variety  of 
languages,  and  transmitted  to  every  corner  of.  the 


MODEL    OF   THE    CHURCH.  67 

world,  in  order  to  utter  a  voice  more  distinct,  loud, 
and  lasting  than  that  of  the  Baptist  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  Judea — Prepare  ye  the  ivay  of  the  Lord. 
3.  Judgment  was  poured  out  upon  the  seat  of  the 
beast,  which  shook  his  throne,  and  smote  the  arm 
by  which  he  extended  his  sceptre,  with  a  debility, 
from  the  effects  of  which  it  can  never  completely 
recover.  And  lastly,  The  reformation  proved  the 
means  of  eternal  life  to  a  vast  number  of  God's 
elect  children  then  upon  the  earth,  and  left  an  ex- 
ample which  animates  the  hope  of  the  witnesses  of 
truth,  and  is  a  sure  pledge  of  the  perfect  fulfilment 
of  the  prophecies  which  exhibit  the  future  grandeur 
of  the  visible  Church. 

The  Protestant  reformation,  although  an  ever- 
memorable  and  glorious  event,  was  far  from 
exhibiting  to  the  nations  in  which  it  prevailed  a 
complete  view  of  the  Christian  Church  in  all  her 
beauty.  One  great  and  essential  principle  of 
Christ's  kingdom,  the  UNITY  of  it,  escaped  the 
observation  of  a  number  of  the  reformers,  and  was 
almost  universally  violated.  The  Christian  system, 
by  its  unalterable  simplicity,  is  divinely  adapted  for 
universal  prevalence.  The  Scripture  model  of  the 
Church,  if  adopted,  would  render  the  Church  one, 
not  only  in  the  subjective  principles  of  religion,  but 
also  in  its  visible  form  among  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  The  immediate  danger  of  the  first  reformers, 
the  difficulty  of  mutual  consultation  upon  subjects 
of  common  concern,  the  selfish  views  of  the   civil 


68  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

rulers  who  joined  them,  and  screeneji  them  in  some 
measure  from  papal  persecution,  and  the  influence 
of  those  who  co-operated  with  them  from  bad 
motives  in  opposition  to  the  papacy,  prevented 
attention  to  this  principle  in  the  organization  of  the 
Churches  of  the  reformation.  Very  few  at  first 
thought  of  extending  uniformity  any  further  than 
their  own  particular  district.  While  the  ministry 
of  the  Church  was  too  inattentive  to  the  unity  of 
the  Church,  and  its  absolute  independency  of  the 
civil  governments  of  the  nations,  the  civil  rulers 
were  endeavoring,  in  each  of  the  Protestant  coun- 
tries, to  render  the  Church,  in  its  external  form,  a 
creature  of  the  civil  authority. 

Another  cause,  also,  contributed  powerfully  to 
the  violation  of  this  principle.  Great  revolutions 
give  an  unusual  impulse  to  the  human  mind,  and 
tend  to  encourage  enthusiasm.  Extravagance  and 
disorder  follow,  of  course,  and  Satan  favors  the 
delusion,  and  encourages  every  impiety.  No  sooner 
was  the  anti-Christian  authority  rejected  in  any 
nation,  than  sectaries  of  every  description  arose,  ran 
to  the  most  dreadful  excesses,  and  thus  distracted 
the  attention  of  the  faithful  from  the  point  of  gen- 
eral and  more  remote  investigations  about  Church 
unity,  constraining  them  to  consult  present  expe- 
diency, and  hasten  the  adoption  of  some  order 
which  might  compose  the  spirits  of  men.  It  be- 
came absolutely  necessary  for  the  civil  authority  to 
exert   its    power   in    suppressing   these  disorderly 


JOHN   CALVIN.  69 

combinations,  which,  under  pretence  of  religion, 
violated  all  righteousness ;  and  the  transition  was 
natural  and  easy,  although  very  unjust,  from  giving 
law  to  enthusiastic  sectaries  who  disturbed  civil 
society,  to  legislating  for  the  Church  itself  Thus 
did  the  circumstances  of  the  times  prove  the  occa- 
sion of  establishing  evil  by  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
law.  The'great  and  good  Protestant  reformers  thus 
sowed  the  seeds  of  lasting  schisms  and  feuds  in  the 
reformation  Church,  by  framing  ecclesiastical  con- 
stitutions, differing  as  widely  from  one  another  as 
did  those  constitutions  of  civil  government  under 
which  they  resided.  These  diversities,  arising  at 
first  from  principles  of  expediency,  or  from  the 
necessities  of  the  times,  did  not  hinder  a  friendly 
intercourse  between  the  pious  people  of  that  age. 
Soon,  however,  too  soon,  did  party  prejudice  and 
pride,  introduce  bigotry  into  the  Protestant 
Churches.  Instead  of  prosecuting  at  their  leisure 
a  further  reformation,  and  procuring  a  general  uni- 
formity, each  adhered  with  zealous  pertinacity  to 
the  forms  already  established,  and  thus  were  handed 
down  to  the  present  day  all  these  dissensions  and 
schisms,  with  the  example  still  more  mischievous, 
of  rending  the  body  of  Christ  at  pleasure.  The 
visible  phurch  has  consequently  little  unjty  in  prac- 
tice. Every  city  has  its  several  congregations,  not 
as  the  distinct  members  of  one  common  family,  but 
like  the  hostile  tribes  which  watch  the  opportunity 
of  injuring  one  another,  and  which  of  course  excite 
uneasy  and  constant  jealousies  and  rivalships. 


70  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

One  great  man  among  the  first  reformers  anti- 
cipated these  evils,  and  endeavored  to  prevent 
them. 

John  Calvin  equalled  his  contemporaries  in  piety, 
accuracy,  knowledge,  and  faithfulness.  He  surpassed 
them  all  in  the  grandeur  of  his  conceptions.  His 
capacious  mind  embraced  the  present  and  future 
interest  of  the  Church  ;  and  his  discernment  pointed 
out  the  means  of  establishing  the  peace  of  Jerusalem. 
He  proposed  a  plan  which  should  embrace  into  one 
Church,  all  the  friends  of  the  reformation  in  every 
country ;  and  which  should  direct  the  united 
strength  of  the  Protestant  nations,  for  its  protection 
ao^ainst  the  man  of  sin  and  all  the  kino-s  which  were 
devoted  to  the  idolatries  of  Rome. 

The  Church  of  England  frustrated  this  grand 
attempt.  She  could  not  act  without  her  head,  the 
monarchy  —  a  head,  on  which  is  written  the  name 
of  blasphemy. 

England,  practising  upon  her  favorite  maxim, 
no  bishop,  no  king,  and  holding  on  the  sixteenth 
century,  as  she  has  done  until  the  nineteenth,  the 
balance  of  power,  refused. to  part  wdth  the  idol i^rel- 
aci/y  and  thus  rendered  abortive  the  plan  of  compre- 
hension. 

The  venerable  reformer,  although  he  lamented 
the  disappointment,  did  not  sink  into  despondency. 
With  the  assistance  of  his  friends,  and  under  the 
direction  of  his  God,  he  had  succeeded  in  establish- 
ing, in  Geneva,  an  ecclesiastical  policy,  which  should 


SITUATION    SANCTIFIED.  71 

be  an  example  to  the  vsurrounding  nations.  The 
great  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  are  reduced  into  the 
form  of  a  confession  of  faith.  The  Presbyterian 
order  is  delineated  in  a  book  of  discipline.  A 
Church  is  formed,  and  its  members  enter  into  solemn 
covenant,  in  conformity  to  the  primitive  pattern, 
and  in  agreeableness  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and 
their  own  subordinate  standards.  The  civil  authority 
is  persuaded  to  act  as  nursing  fathers  and  nursing 
mothers ;  and  the  senate  of  Geneva,  on  the  20th 
of  July,  1537,  enter  into  covenant,  ratified  by  an 
oath,  to  support  this  newly  organized  Church. 
Ecclesiastical  covenanting  rests  upon  an  immovable 
basis.  The  Church  is  a  Covenant  Societi;.  A  national 
covenant  is  a  very  different  thing.  The  covenanters 
of  Geneva  understood  the  difference,  and  they 
practised  accordingly.  They  had  no  intention  to 
intermingle  Church  and  State.  But  they  were  fully 
persuaded  that  the  civil  polity  should  protect  the 
Church  against  Antichrist.  Nations  are  bound  to 
honor  Messiah ;  and  upon  this  principle  they  cove- 
nant with  God.  A  seminary  of  literature  was  also 
established  under  the  direction  of  the  Church, 
w^iich  proved  of  eminent  service.  The  'youth 
Hocked  to  it  from  every  nation,  'and  returned  to 
their  respective  homes  ably  qualified  to  serve  in  the 
Gospel  their  divine  Lord  and  Master,  in  their  native 
countries.  By  God's  blessing,  their  ministry  wassuc- 
cessful ;  and  in  no  place  more  so  than  in  Scotland. 
While  the  reformation  was  progressing  toward 


72  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

its  perfection  in  that  kingdom,  the  English  mon- 
archy, although  the  greatest  barrier  to  the  refor- 
mation of  England  itself,  proved  a  shield  to  protect, 
from  papal  persecution,  those  who  promoted  its 
interest  in  the  northern  part  of  the  island. 

The  ways  of  Providence  are  wonderful.  He  can 
raise  up  a  protection  to  his  saints  from  among  their 
enemies.  If  nominal  members  of  the  Church,  and 
the  various  sects  of  heretics,  are  a  grievance  to  the 
pious  disciple,  they  serve  also  to  screen  him  from 
persecution.  Unregenerate  professors  and  the  sects 
of  heresy  are  providentially  interposed  between 
the  real  Church  and  the  openly  wicked  world. 
Were  it  not  for  this  hedge,  it  would  require  a  con- 
stant miracle  to  prevent  the  wicked  from  murdering 
the  saints.  *  But  the  Lord  had  also  much  people  in 
England.  While  the  Church  of  Scotland  was  im- 
proving the  Geneva  model,  by  rendering  the  con- 
fession of  faith  more  full  and  explicit,  and  the  whole 
order  of  the  Church  more  correct  and  definite,  the 
same  principles  were  rapidly  progressing  in  Eng- 
land. Under  the  name  of  Puritans,  the  friends  of 
primitive  Christianity  were  known  in  that  realm. 
Civil  liberty  accompanied  religion  in  its  progress, 
and  it  would  have  been  a  happiness  to  the  world 
had  she  never  forsaken  or  outrun  her  heavenly 
guide  and  companion.  To  the  Puritans  alone  the 
English  owe  the  whole  freedom  of  their  constitution. 
They  stemmed  the  torrent  of  despotic  power  which 
threatened  to  overwhelm  the  nation.  •The  spirit  of 
the  nation  was  at  length  roused,  and  produced  an 


SOLEMN   LEAGUE.  73 

invitation  to  reform  the  Church.  An  ordinance  of 
Parliament  called  upon  the  most  pious  and  learned 
men  of  the  nation  to  meet  at  Westminster,  on  the 
1st  of  July,  1643,  to  consult  together,  and  advise 
the  Parliament  touching  the  concerns  of  religion. 
This  assembly  was  composed  of  the  most  eminent 
divines  and  laymen  of  the  age.  It  was  not  de- 
signed for  a  national  synod  or  a  representative 
body  of  the  clergy,  but  only  as  a  council  to  the 
Parliament.  The  civil  authority  demanded  their 
advice  in  advancino;  the  cause  of  truth  and  ricrht- 
eousness,  and  consequently  called  them,  not  as  an 
ecclesiastical  court,  having  jurisdiction  over  the 
Churches,  but  as  a  committee  of  arrangement  to 
promote  the  interest  of  religion,  and  the  further 
reformation  of  the  Church.  This  assembly,  with 
the  assistance  of  commissioners  from  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  drew  up  and  exhibited  to  the  world,  in  a 
confession  of  faith  and  catechisms,  directory  for 
worship,  and  a  plan  of  Church  government,  the 
most  definite,  scriptural,  and  complete  system  which 
had  ever  been  exhibited  by  any  council  or  assembly. 
It  was  intended  as  a  system  of  uniformity,  which 
should  unite  in  one  Church  the  friends  of  relio-ion 
in  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland.  Such  a  system 
became  necessary,  as  these  nations  had  entered  into 
a  solemn  league  and  covenant  for  themselves  and 
their  posterity  that  all  things  might  be  done  in 
God's  house  according  to  his  own  revealed  will. 

This  covenant  was  drawn  up  by  a  committee  of 
the   general  assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland, 


74  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

and  commissioners  from  England.  It  passed  both 
the  assembly  and  the  convention  of  estates  at  Edin- 
burgh in  one  day,  and  being  sent  to  England,  it  was 
ratified  by  the  Assembly  and  the  Parliament.  Mon- 
day, the  25th  of  September,  1643,  in  the  Church 
of  St.  Margaret's,  Westminster,  Mr.  Nye  read  this 
co.venant  from  the  pulpit,  article  by  artiple,  each 
person  standing  uncovered,  with  his  right  hand 
lifted  up  bare  to  heaven,  worshipping  the  great 
name  of  God,  and  swearing  to  the  performance  of 
it.  It  was  afterwards  subscribed  by  the  House  of 
Commons  and  by  the  Assembly.  It  was  sworn  by 
the  House  of  Lords,  on  the  15th  day  of  October. 
This  covenant  binds  these  nations  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  doctrine,  worship,  discipline,  and  gov- 
ernment of  the  Church  of  Scotland  ;  it  also  binds 
to  constant  exertions  to  establish  uniformity  in  re- 
ligion over  the  three  kingdoms,  and  to  perpetual 
perseverance  in  the  same  cause  against  all  opposition. 
Copies  of  these  transactions  were  sent  by  the  as- 
sembly of  divines,  accompanied  with  appropriate 
letters,  to  the  Churches  of  Holland,  France,  and 
Switzerland. 

All  these  Churches  returned  respectful  answers, 
and  the  Netherland  divines  expressed  not  only  an 
approbation  of  the  covenant,  but  desired  to  join 
therein. 

The  Presbyterian  system  was  never  completely 
established  in  England,  although  it  was  for  some 
time  the  most  prevalent.  And  after  several  years 
of  civil   tumult  and  religious   anarchy,  the  nation 


AMERICA    COLONIZED.  75 

affain  crouched  under  the  burdens  of  both  the  mon- 
archy  and  the  prelacy.  The  restoration  of  the 
British  monarchy  was  accompanied  with  national 
perjury.  The  prelacy  and  the  throne  were  estab- 
lished in  blood.  The  reformation  was  overturned, 
the  covenant  was  broken,  and  upwards  of  twenty 
thousand  Presbyterians  died  as  martyrs  to  the  cove- 
nanted reformation. 

The  Protestant  Churches  have,  since  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  been  declining  in  purity. 

A  sceptical  philosophy  has  corrupted  the  prin- 
ciples of  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  literary 
part  of  the  community.  Commerce  has  nurtured 
in  its  lap  sensuality  and  avarice.  Mistaken  ideas 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty  have  rendered  men 
impatient  of  the  restraints  of  Christian  discipline. 
And  the  politicians  of  the  present  world  have 
prevailed  too  far  to  render  the  Protestant  systems 
minister  to  their  ambition.  The  visible  Church, 
divided  into  factions,  and  encumbered  with  a  mass 
of  irreligious  professors,  presents  in  every  place  an 
appearance  which  fills  the  serious  mind  with  pain. 

America,  colonized  and  settled  by  Europeans, 
has  offered  an  asylum  for  Christians  of  every  de- 
nomination from  the  effect  of  the  penal  statutes 
standing  against  them  in  different  countries  of  the 
old  world.  In  the  United  States  particularly,  the 
simple  form  of  civil  government  affording  equal 
protection  to  all  ranks  of  men,  we  often  find  the 
various  forms  oF  religion  practised  in  one  city. 


76  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

God  has,  in  his  Providence,  presented  the  human 
family  in  this  country  with  a  new  experiment. 
The  Church,  unheeded  by  the  civil  powers,  is  suf- 
fered to  rise  or  fall  by  her  own  exertions.  The 
truth  is  great,  however,  and  by  the  blessing  of  God, 
and  the  faithfulness  of  the  saints,  it  will  yet  triumph. 
Tawards  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
the  pious  people  in  Europe  direct  an  eye  of  unusual 
anxiety  towards  America.  Twelve  centuries  have 
now  elapsed  since  the  rise  of  Antichrist.  His  fall 
is  fast  approaching.  Dreadful  judgments  await  all 
the  parts  of  the  Roman  empire.  The  heavens  and 
the  mrUi  of  that  system  must  be  shaken  and  re- 
moved, and  the  witnesses  be  killed  by  the  last 
efforts  of  the  beast.  Many  exercise  a  hope  that 
America  will  escape  the  dreadful  carnage;  and  that 
the  visible  Covenant  Society  of  God  will  here  find 
a  place  of  rest  until  Europe  be  drenched  in  the 
blood  of  the  enemies  of  religion.  Certainly  Chris- 
tians are  now  very  much  scattered  over  the  face 
of  the  earth.  Books  replete  with  solid  information 
abound.  Let  the  anti-Christian  empire  be  com- 
pletely overturned  ;  and  when  the  Lord  pours  down 
his  Holy  Spirit,  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  will  be- 
come the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord,  and  of  his  Christ. 
Then  shall  the  Churches  relinquish  every  carnal 
prejudice,  and  adopt  the  prophetic  maxim  —  Come, 
let  us  join  ourselves  to  the  Lord  in  a  perpetual 
covenant.  The  Church  shall  then  be  one  in  all 
nations. 


BOOK  II. 


AN   HISTORICAL  VIEW   OF   THE   REFORMED   PRES- 
BYTERIAN   CHURCH. 


CHAPTER   I. 


FROM    THE    ESTABLISHMENT    OF    THE     PRESBYTERIAN 
REFORMATION  UNTIL  THE  REVOLUTION  SETTLEMENT, 

1643-1688. 

The  Church  in  Scotland  enjoyed  advantages  in 
prosecuting  reformation  which  were  unknown  to 
the  other  Presbyterian  Churches.  The  poverty  of 
the  nation  laid  a  restraint  upon  the  ambition  of 
ecclesiastics,  preserved  a  singular  simplicity  of  man- 
ners, and  rendered  religious  controversy  what  it 
always  ought  to  be,  a  contest  for  principle,  not  for 
worldly  interest.  The  insular  situation  of  the  in- 
habitants prevented  foreigners  from  mingling  with 
them ;  and  the  reformers,  undisturbed  in  a  great 
measure  by  the  factions  which  distracted  the  Prot- 
estant interest  upon  the  continent  of  Europe,  were 
enabled  to  direct  their  faithful  exertions  to  the 
establishment  of  regular  order  and  discipline  in 
their  own  Churches. 

The    power   of  England   overawed   the   popish 

77 


78  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

party  of  Scotland  ;  and  while  itself  was  but  half 
reformed,  served  as  a  protection  to  their  more 
faithful  northern  neighbors  from  the  anti-Christian 
empire.  The  Scottish  crown  did  not  possess  suf- 
ficient power,  as  in  the  other  countries,  to  render  the 
reformation  an  engine  of  state  policy  ;  and  being 
restrained  by  the  nobles,  wdio  formed  a  strong 
barrier  between  the  king  and  the  people,  the  Pres- 
byterian ministers  organized  the  Church  upon  its 
pure  and  primitive  plan,  establishing  its  doctrine, 
worship,  discipline,  and  government,  perfectly  dis- 
tinct from  the  civil  authority,  and  independent  of 
the  power  of  the  magistrate.  God,  by  his  Provi- 
dence, directing  the  external  affairs  of  the  nation  in 
subordination  to  religion,  he  animated  his  faithful 
servants  by  a  remarkable  degree  of  knowledge  and 
holiness.  The  Presbyterians  in  Scotland  learned 
from  their  Bibles  that  the  system  of  grace  is  the 
chief  of  God's  works ;  that  the  saints  are  the  salt 
of  the  earth,  and  Jesus  is  King  of  kings,  and  Lord 
of  lords.  Having  organized  the  Church  as  the 
peculiar  kingdom  of  the  Redeemer,  upon  principles 
which  maintained  the  exclusive  headship  of  Christ, 
they  demanded  that  the  crown  of  the  nation  should 
be  laid  at  the  feet  of  Messiah.  They  required  that 
the  Church  should  not  only  be  tolerated  to  establish 
her  distinct  ecclesiastical  organization,  but  that  she 
should  hereafter  be  supported  by  the  civil  power 
of  the  nation  in  the  enjoyment  of  her  established 
rights.     These  pious  politicians  argued  upon  Scrip- 


WESTMINSTER    ASSEMBLY.  79 

ture  principles.  God  preserves  the  world  on  account 
of  his  Church.  Christ  administers  the  government 
of  the  universe  in  subordination  to  the  Church; 
angels  and  men  are  commanded  to  obey  him ;  and 
all  civil  constitutions  should  be  nursing  fathers  and 
nursing  mothers  to  the  Church.  They  required, 
therefore,  that  the  King  of  Scotland  should  no  longer 
give  his  power  to  the  anti-Christian  beast ;  should 
no  longer  drink  of  the  intoxicating  cup  of  the 
mother  of  harlots;  but  bow  before  the  Prince  of 
the  kings  of  the  earth.  The  majority  of  the  nation 
required  that  the  government  should  be  adminis- 
tered, not  for  the  glory  of  man,  but  for  the  welfare 
of  societj^,  the  good  of  the  Church,  and  the  glory  of 
God.  They  were  successful.  The  nation  entered 
into  these  m^easures  by  solemn  covenant ;  and  their 
pious  neighbors  in  England  and  in  Ireland  joined  in 
a  solemn  league  to  preserve  the  established  order 
of  religion  in  Scotland,  and  to  use  their  endeavors 
for  the  introduction  of  a  similar  order  in  these  two 
nations.  In  consequence  of  this  union  the  English 
Presbyterians  in  the  Assembly  at  Westminster,  with 
the  assistance  of  commissioners  from  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  completed  those  ecclesiastical  standards 
which  have  been  received  as  agreeable  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  as  the  bond  of  the  covenanted  uniformity 
between  the  Keformed  Presbyterian  Churches  in 
the  British  empire. 

This  system  was  reduced  into  operation  in  Scot- 
land, and  constituted  the  finishing  part  of  the  second 


80  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

reformation  throughout  that  kingdon.  The  Church 
enjoyed  these  attainments  in  peace  but  a  very 
short  time. 

The  period  appointed  in  God's  purpose  for  the 
destruction  of  Antichrist,  and  for  the  kingdoms  of 
this  world  to  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and 
of  his  Christ,  had  not  yet  arrived.  God's  visible 
covenant  society  had  not  as  yet  finished  the  testi- 
mony which  the  witnesses  were  appointed  to  give. 
They  must  still  appear  in  sackcloth,  and  seal  by 
the  blood  of  martyrdom  the  testimony  which  they 
held.  Several  causes  contributed,  under  a  holy 
Providence,  to  bring  the  Church  into  severe  troubles 
and  trials,  which  should  prove  the  faithfulness  of 
the  saints. 

The  Presbyterians  used  power  with  moderation. 
They  never  proposed  to  render  men  pious  by  com- 
pulsion. They  restrained  open  irregularities;  they 
punished  the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath,  daring 
blasphemy,  and  public  overt  acts  of  idolatry.  They 
procured  acts  of  Parliament  to  exclude  from  civil 
office  all  those  who,  evidently  disaffected  to  the 
reformed  constitution,  might  be  expected  to  make 
use  of  their  power  and  influence  to  subvert  the 
beautiful  and  venerable  fabric.  They  were,  how- 
ever, unwilling  imnecessarily  to  embroil  the  nation 
by  a  total  dissolution  of  the  monarchy.  They  even 
still  retained  some  veneration  for  the  principle  of 
the  hereditary  succession  of  royalty.  And  when 
the  English  independent  faction  executed  upon  the 


DANGEROUS    EXPERIMENT.  81 

first  Charles  the  demerit  of  his  crimes,  the  Scottish 
Parliament,  being  then  sitting  at  Edinburgh,  did  im- 
mediately order  his  son,  Charles  II.,  to  be  proclaimed 
king.  They  accompanied  the  proclamation,  how- 
ever, with  a  declaration,  that  before  he  be  admitted 
to  the  exercise  of  the  royal  power,  he  shall  give 
satisfactory  evidence  to  the  kingdom  of  his  attach- 
ment to  the  constitution  of  government  as  now 
reformed,  according  to  the  covenant  and  solemn 
league. 

This  was  rash  and  highly  imprudent  conduct. 
The  friends  of  Scottish  liberty,  and  even  the  most 
faithful  friends  of  religion,  were  hurried  into  the 
measure  by  the  dread  of  being  overwhelmed  with 
the  anarchy  which  now  began  to  prevail  in  Eng- 
land, under  the  influence  of  their  present  mock 
Parliament.  They  made  a  dangerous  experiment; 
and  they  had  afterwards  abundant  cause  to  repent 
their  own  rashness.  Power  should  never  be  con- 
ferred on  any  whose  previously  tried  and  established 
reputation  does  not  afford  a  prospect  that  he  will 
use  it  in  the  cause  of  righteousness.  No  profession 
can  bind  a  man  without  principle.  To  require  a 
profession  of  virtue  from  an  unprincipled  man,  is 
to  tempt  him  to  hypocrisy.  Such  was  certainly 
the  case  in  respect  of  the  infamous  and  perjured 
tyrant  who  bore  the  name  of  Charles  the  Second. 
He  was  at  the  Hague,  a  town  in  Holland,  when  he 
was  proclaimed  king.  Commissioners  were  imme- 
diately sent  to  treat  with  him,  but  he  refused  to 
6 


82  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

give  the  required    satisfliction,  and  they  returned 
to   Scotland  without  him.     Happy  would  it  have 
been  for  the  nation  had  they  then  placed  the  reins 
of  government  in  the  hands  of  some  of  their  own 
able   and   virtuous    citizens;  but  their   connection 
wdth  England  would  not  admit  of  this  measure. 
Next  year  commissioners  were  again  despatched  to 
treat  with    the   exile   king.     They  found    him    at 
Breda,  a  city  of  Dutch  Brabant.     He  there  pursued 
his  wanton  pleasures,  and  upon  the  Saturday  be- 
fore he  left  that  city,  after  having  agreed  to  the 
terms  of  the  treaty,  he  returned  from  his  revellings, 
and  refused  submission   to   the   terms.     Upon  the 
following  Sabbath,  he,  as  an  Episcopalian,  took  the 
sacrament  kneeling,  and  thus  sealed,  by  unworthy 
communicating,  his  opposition  to  Presbyterians,  and 
to  the  God  whom  they  adore.     The  Rev.  Mr.  Liv- 
ingston,  one   of  the   commissioners,  an  eminently 
godly  man  disapproved  of  the  whole  procedure  re- 
specting his  recall,  and  declared    that,  in  Charles 
Stuart,  they  carried  the  plague  of  God  to  Scotland. 
Upon  the  king^s  arrival  in  Scotland,  he  solemnly 
swore    to    maintain    the   covenanted    reformation ; 
and  upon  the  16th  of  August,  1650,  published  a 
declaration,  in  which  he  abjured  Popery  and  Prel- 
acy,  lamented   his  flither's   tyranny   and   idolatry, 
promised  that  he  should  have  in  future  no  friends 
but  the  friends  of  the  reformation,  and  no  enemies 
but  the  enemies  of  the  covenanted  uniformity.     He 
was  publicly  crowned  at  Scone,  on  the  first  of  Jan- 


A    SMALL   MINORITY.  83 

uary,  1651,  after  an  excellent  sermon,  preached  by 
the  Eev.  Mr.  Douglas,  from  2  Kings  xi.  12,  17.  In 
the  presence  of  the  national  representatives  and  the 
commissioners  of  the  Church,  he  renewed  the  cov- 
enants, solemnly  swearing,  with  his  hand  lifted  up 
to  God,  to  rule  the  kingdom  in  agreeableness  to 
the  established  constitution.  The  people,  by  their 
representatives,  then  declared  their  choice  of  him 
to  be  their  king.  The  Marquis  of  Argyle  placed 
the  crown  upon  his  head,  and  then  the  nobles  and 
commons  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  that  they 
should  be  faithful  to  the  king,  according  to  their 
national  and  solemn  vows  in  defence  of  religion 
and  righteousness. 

Never  were  king  and  people  more  strictly  bound 
to  God  and  to  one  another,  than  were  this  king 
and  these  people.  But  it  soon  appeared  that  the 
people  had  committed  the  guardianship  of  their 
rights  to  very  treacherous  hands.  Cromwell,  the 
English  usurper,  had  invaded  Scotland  with  a  pow- 
erful army.  In  this  kingdom  there  w^as  a  minority, 
who,  on  account  of  their  attachment  to  prelacy  and 
arbitrary  power,  did  not  acquiesce  in  the  present 
established  constitution.  Vicious  in  morals,  con- 
sidering religion  only  as  an  engine  of  power,  oppos- 
ing the  liberty  and  independence  of  the  Church, 
and  entirely  devoted  to  prelacy  and  arbitrary  gov- 
ernment, they  were  by  law  excluded  from  places 
of  power  and  trust  in  the  state  and  in  the  army. 
They  had  served  King  Charles  I.  in  his  endeavors 


84  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

to  enslave  the  nation ;  and  the  commonwealth, 
having  succeeded  in  throwing  off  the  yoke,  did 
not  choose  to  intrust  these  men  with  power.  They 
enjoyed  unmolested  their  personal  liberties  and 
property  under  the  law ;  but  no  policy  could  jus- 
tify their  promotion  to  official  stations,  without 
evidence  of  their  having  changed  their  sentiments. 
The  principal  men  of  this  party,  remarkable  for 
their  immorality,  as  well  as  their  opposition  to  the 
reformation  establishment,  were  called  malignants. 
As  they  had  long  enjoyed  the  patronage  of  the 
tyrannical  house  of  Stuart  in  the  chief  offices  of 
state  and  army,  some  of  them  were  experienced 
warriors  and  able  politicians.  Although  now  a  very 
small  minority,  they  were  still  formidable,  and 
ought  to  have  received  a  more  effectual  debase- 
ment than  the  generous  and  pious  people  who  now 
possessed  the  power,  were  disposed  to  give  even  to 
their  enemies. 

Such  was  the  state  of  parties  in  Scotland,  when 
the  army  appointed  to  support  the  young  king  and 
his  people,  under  the  conduct  of  General  Leslie, 
was  defeated  at  Dunbar,  by  Oliver  Cromwell.  The 
king  was  pleased  at  this  defeat.  It  afforded  an  ar- 
gument for  the  admission  of  the  malignants,  who 
were  known  enemies  to  Cromwell,  into  the  army 
which  defended  Scotland.  By  private  intrigue,  this 
impious  monarch,  and  these  malignants,  formed 
plans  for  the  overthrow  of  the  constitution.  They 
professed  reformation ;  they  were  admitted  to  mill- 


OLIVER    CROMWELL.  85 

tary  power  ;  they  took  the  oaths  of  office,  and  were 
admitted  into  the  councils  of  state.  Their  hypoc- 
risy did  not,  however,  deceive  all  the  friends  of  the 
reformation  interest.  There  were  many  faithful 
men  who  considered  their  penitence  as  mockery, 
their  submission  to  church  discipline  for  their  im- 
morality as  hypocrisy,  and  their  oath  as  perjury. 
The  most  faithful  ministers  and  presbyteries  op- 
posed the  admission  of  these  malignants  into  com- 
munion, and  the  most  virtuous  politicians  opposed 
their  admission  to  civil  office.  Presbyterians  were 
thus,  by  the  impious  cunning  of  their  enemies, 
divided  among  themselves.  Those  who  favored  the 
mahgnants  were  called  Revolutioners,  and  those  who 
opposed  them  Protestors.  This  division  produced 
the  ruin  of  the  civil  constitution,  and  prepared  the 
way  for  that  persecution  which  soon  destroyed  the 
Church. 

The  English  arms  having  prevailed  over  those 
of  the  king  and  the  Scots,  Charles  escaped  to 
France,  and  threw  off  the  mask  of  Presby terianism. 
Despairing  of  obtaining  the  crown  of  England  by 
means  of  the  Scottish  reformers,  he  applied  for  as- 
sistance to  the  Popish  powers  of  the  continent,  and 
embraced  the  Roman  religion.  He  still,  however, 
pretended  to  be  a  Protestant.  Scotland,  in  the 
mean  time,  was  reduced  under  the  English  usurper. 
This  occasioned  further  dissensions  among  the  Pres- 
byterians. The  reformers  were  in  the  habit  of 
referring  every  part  of  their  conduct  to  some  gen- 


86  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

eral  principle,  and  if  the  principle  was  not  correct, 
to  condemn  the  practical  application  of  it.  They 
were  sensible  that  morality  could  not  otherwise  be 
well  understood  or  practised.  It  was  of  cours^a 
question  of  a  very  serious  nature  that  now  de- 
manded their  attention,  —  Was  Oliver  Cromwell  to 
be  considered  as  a  usurper,  or  as  a  lawful  ruler,  to 
whom  obedience  is  due  for  conscience'  sake  ?  The 
friends  of  the  Protector,  as  Cromwell  was  called, 
were  few,  but  they  were  formidable.  The  army  was 
under  their  command.  They  required  also  con- 
scientious submission  to  the  power  of  the  Protector. 
They  reasoned  thus :  "  The  powers  which  he  exer- 
cises are  in  themselves  lawful,  and  he  has  acquired 
from  God's  Providence  a  right  to  exercise  them. 
The  powers  that  be,  are  ordained  of  God"  To  these 
arguments  it  was  replied,  that  although  tyranny 
and  usurpation  were  permitted  by  a  Holy  Provi- 
dence, and  overruled  for  the  good  of  the  Church, 
they  had  not  the  divine  approbation,  had  no  claim 
on  the  obedience  of  Christians,  and  might  not  only 
be  lawfully  resisted,  but  completely  overthrown. 
That  Cromwell  was  a  usurper  was  manifest.  He 
was  never  chosen  by  the  nation  to  govern  it ;  and 
the  constitution,  ratified  by  solemn  oath,  excluded 
him  from  power.  To  this  constitution,  the  more 
faithful  Presbyterians  considered  themselves  bound 
by  covenant  to.  adhere. 

The  disputes  between  the  Revolutioners  and  the 
Protestors  were   still   agitated  with  a  vehemence 


THE   PROTESTORS.  87 

which  distracted  the  Church.  The  most  faithful 
ministers  were  of  the  protesting  party.  They  con- 
demned the  resohitions  which  admitted  into  Church 
communion,  and  into  civil  and  miUtary  power,  the 
mahgnants.  They  condemned  these  measures  as 
ministers  and  as  patriots,  who  sought  the  good  of 
their  country  in  subordination  to  Christ's  kingdom. 
They  maintained  that  none  should  be  admitted  to 
Church  fellowship,  or  continued  in  it,  unless  they 
professed  the  true  religion,  and  understood  what 
they  professed  —  unless  they  evidenced  repentance 
of  all  their  sins  —  led  a  holy  and  religious  life  — 
and  promised  submission  to  all  the  ordinances  of 
the  Gospel.  They  considered  as  no  recommenda- 
tion a  hasty  profession  of  repentance,  and  a  prom- 
ise of  submission  to  ecclesiastical  order,  coming 
from  persons  who  were  uniformly  remarkable  for 
their  impiety,  and  who  now  had  a  motive  for  hy- 
pocrisy, in  the  expectation  of  power  and  office. 
They  declared  it  to  be  a  prostitution  of  the  privi- 
leges of  the  Church  to  confer  them  upon  such  char- 
acters. They  urged  it  upon  the  public  mind  as  an 
important  maxim,  that  no  enemy  of  the  civil  con- 
stitution should  be  intrusted  with  a  share  of  its 
administration.  They  exposed  the  folly  and  the 
madness  of  bestowing  military  power  upon  the 
inveterate  enemies  of  religion,  liberty,  and  law. 
They  fortified  these  declarations  by  judicious  argu- 
ments from  the  Scripture.  Two  very  judicious  dis- 
sertations against  associations  with  malignants  were 


88  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

published  arid  circulated,  the  one  by  the  famous  Mr. 
Gillespie,  and  the  other  by  Mr.  Binning. 

The  faithfulness  of  the  Protestors  excited  the 
envy  of  their  brethren,  the  Revolutionists,  and  pro- 
voked the  enmity  of  the  Malignants,  who  now  w^aited 
for  an  opportunity  of  vengeance. 

The  opportunity,  alas  !  soon  arrived.  After  nine 
years'  exile,  King  Charles  was  restored,  and  mon- 
archy was  re-established  in  England,  as  well  as  in 
Scotland.  General  Monk  was  the  principal  agent 
in  accomplishing  this  flattering,  but  fatal  change. 
He  was  the  second  son  of  an  ancient  but  decayed 
family.  He  betook  himself  in  early  youth  to  the 
profession  of  arms,  and  sought  military  experience 
in  the  Low  Countries,  the  great  school  of  war. 
When  the  quarrel  between  Charles  the  First  and 
the  Parliament  broke  out,  he  returned  to  England, 
and  joined  the  standard  of  tyranny  and  royalty. 
After  the  overthrow  of  the  English  monarchy,  this 
adventurer  enlisted  under  the  republican  banner, 
and  fought  against  King  Charles  H.  in  Scotland. 
When  this  kingdom  was  reduced  under  the  English 
arms.  Monk  was  left  by  Cromwell  with  the  supreme 
command.  He  served  Oliver,  and  his  son  Kichard, 
until  he  was  deposed  ;  and  to  the  Parliament  after- 
wards, he  gave  entire  submission.  He  protested, 
however,  against  the  violence  of  the  English  army 
which  invaded  the  Parliamentary  privilege,  and 
established  military  government  in  England.  He 
was  a  man  of  much  apparent  moderation,  and  of 


THE   PROTESTORS.  89 

deep  design.  He  perceived  that  the  English  were 
wearied  of  anarchy,  and  that  the  Scots  longed  for 
the  re-establishment  of  their  monarchical  constitu- 
tion, as  limited  and  reformed,  agreeably  to  their 
solemn  covenants.  He  determined  to  take  the  ad- 
vantage of  these  dispositions.  He  was  covetous  to 
the  extreme,  possessed  a  vicious  mind,  and  could 
not  be  exceeded  by  any  man  in  dissimulation. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Douglas  first  proposed  to  General 
Monk  the  king's  restoration ;  and  he  did  himself 
travel  through  a  great  part  of  England  and  Scot- 
land to  engage  the  leading  Presbyterians  in  his 
majesty's  service. 

Monk,  in  the  mean  time,  marched  to  England, 
defeated  the  prevailing  faction,  restored  the  Par- 
liament, and  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
commonwealth.  The  whole  power  of  the  nation 
being  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Presbyterians,  the 
covenants  between  the  nation  and  the  Scots,  in  de- 
fence of  religion,  are  again  publicly  acknowledged 
as  law. 

The  new  Parliament  was  inclined  to  a  limited 
monarchy.  They  beheld  a  covenanted  Presbyte- 
rian king,  ready  to  accept  an  invitation  to  the 
throne  of  his  ancestors,  and  they  proposed  to  enter 
into  immediate  stipulations  with  him. 

At  this  critical  juncture  Monk  acted  the  part  of 
a  traitor.  He,  with  military  power,  overawed  the 
Parliament,  and  the  king  was  restored  without  con- 
ditions.    Charles,  too,  again  played  the  hypocrite. 


90  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

A  committee  of  Presbyterian  ministers  waited  upon 
him  at  Breda,  and  he  publicly  thanked  God  that 
he  was  a  covenanted  king.  Thus  was  the  nation 
plunged  into  ruin. 

Charles  the  Second  was  no  sooner  settled  upon 
the  throne,  than  he  discovered  a  disposition  to  op- 
pose to  the  utmost  that  covenanted  reformation,  to 
the  support  of  which  he  had  been  repeatedly  bound 
by  oath.  Having  embraced  Popery,  he  resolved 
to  suppress  Presbytery.  He  made  the  experiment 
first  in  Scotland.  This  nation  had  been  reduced 
under  England  by  the  Parliamentary  forces.  As  a 
conquered  kingdom,  Charles  concluded  that  he 
might  destroy  with  ease  its  remaining  liberties. 
He  immediately  assumed  unlimited  power,  both  in 
ecclesiastical  and  civil  things ;  re-established  the 
prelacy,  and  caused  himself  to  be  acknowledged 
the  head  of  the  Church.  The  first  blow  fell  upon 
the  most  valuable  man  in  the  nation,  the  pious  Mar- 
quis of  Argyle.  The  ungrateful  monarch  procured 
the  murder  of  the  nobleman  who  patronized  him  in 
his  youth,  and  placed  the  crown  upon  his  head. 
The  Protestors  were  the  persons  most  obnoxious 
to  the  king ;  but  the  whole  reformed  Presbyterian 
Church  was  devoted  to  destruction  by  this  impious 
apostate.  He  had  selected  a  suitable  person  as  an 
accomplice  in  his  crimes.  Mr.  Sharp  was  commis- 
sioned by  the  Presbyterians  of  Scotland  to  wait 
upon  the  king  at  his  restoration,  and  negotiate  with 
him  in  favor  of  the  Church.     He  also,  in  the  secret 


COVENANTED    REFORMATION.  91 

with  Monk,  acted  the  traitor ;  was  consecrated  a 
bishop,  and  returned  to  Scotland  as  Archbishop  of 
St.  Andrews,  and  Primate  of  the  kingdom. 

The  Episcopal  Church  now  being  fully  established 
in  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland,  over  the  ruins 
of  the  reformation,  Presbyterians  were  called  to 
seal  with  their  blood  the  testimony  which  they  held. 
Upwards  of  two  thousand  godly  ministers  were 
banished  from  their  cono;reo;ations  and  their  livinjjcs 
in  one  day,  in  the  kingdom  of  England  ;  and  uj)- 
wards  of  twenty  thousand  Presbyterians  suffered 
martyrdom  in  Scotland  during  the  reign  of  Charles 
the  Second  and  his  brother  James.  Several  of  the 
ministers  fled  to  foreign  countries ;  some  were  in- 
dulged in  their  parishes,  upon  renouncing  their 
covenanted  reformation ;  but  those  who  continued 
faithful,  w^ere  driven  to  the  mountains,  hunted,  and 
butchered  without  mercy. 

As  faithful  witnesses  for  the  truth,  these  emi- 
nently godly  men  published  many  valuable  testi- 
monies against  the  prevailing  evils  ;  and  while  they 
were  permitted  to  live,  they  exhibited  in  their  own 
persecuted  Churches  the  doctrine,  worship,  and  dis- 
cipline which  had  been  appointed  by  Christ  for  the 
New  Testament  Church.  They  opposed  with  solid 
arguments  the  present  constituted  authorities  in 
Church  and  in  State.  They  even  declared  it  rebel- 
lion against  Heaven  to  be  in  allegiance  with  the 
house  of  Stuart.  Their  cruel  persecutors  sometimes 
attempted  to  reason  with  the  martyrs,  when  they 


92  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

were  called  before  their  courts.  The  arguments 
which  the  persecutors  used  were  more  plausible 
than  substantial.  "  Christians  are  commanded  to 
be  subject  to  the  higher  powers.  Ecclesiastical  per- 
sons are  not  exempted.  Ministers  are  bound  to 
pray  for  all  who  are  in  authority.  When  God  in 
his  Providence  exalts  a  man  to  power,  all  should 
submit  to  the  exercise  of  such  power  as  the  ordi- 
nance of  God.  Even  absolute  tyranny  is  from  the 
Lord.  There  is  no  power  but  of  God.  The  apostle 
Paul  required  the  Romans  to  obey  the  emperor 
Nero,  a  heathen,  a  persecutor,  an  infamous  man, 
and  an  absolute  tyrant.  It  is  certainly  more  rea- 
sonable to  submit  to  the  authority  of  the  present 
reigning  family.  Presbyterians,  therefore,  in  dis- 
owning the  king's  authority,  are  worthy  of  death." 
Such  were  the  arguments  used  by  the  perjured 
prelates,  to  ensnare  the  consciences  of  those  who 
adhered  to  reformation  principles.  These  infamous 
men  sheltered  their  principles  under  perverted  texts 
of  Scripture,  and  called  their  murder  of  the  pious 
Presbyterians  by  the  name  of  justice. 

To  these  arguments  the  persecuted  saints,  when 
permitted  to  speak,  made  a  judicious  reply  :  — 

"Every  immoral  constitution  is  disapproved  of 
God  ;  and  no  man  ouo:ht  to  swear  allesciance  to  a 
power  which  God  does  not  recognize.  All  kings 
are  commanded  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the 
Church ;  and  those  who  own  allegiance  to  Christ, 
cannot  consistently  pray  for  the  prosperity  of  the 


DUTY    OF    CHRISTIANS.  93 

Church's  enemies,  or  for  the  establishment  of  thrones 
founded  on  iniquity. 

"It  is  certainly  the  duty  of  Christians  to  be 
meek  and  peaceable  members  of  civil  society.  If 
they  are  permitted  to  enjoy  their  lives,  their  prop- 
erty, and  especially  their  religion,  without  being 
required  to  make  any  sinful  compliances,  it  is  right 
that  they  should  behave  peaceably,  and  not  involve 
society  in  confusion,  even  although  the  power  of 
the  empire  in  which  they  reside  be  in  evil  hands. 
Every  burden  which  God  in  his  Providence  brings 
upon  them,  they  must  cheerfully  bear.  But  never 
are  Chnstians  called  upon  by  their  God  to  oivn  as  his 
ordinance  anything  tvhich  is  contrary  to  his  law.  The 
civil  powers,  of  which  he  approves,  are  a  terror  to 
them  who  do  evil,  and  a  praise  to  them  who  do 
well.  Tyrants  and  persecutors,  usurpers  and  de- 
spisers  of  religion,  may  be  set  up,  in  his  holy  and 
just  Providence,  to  answer  valuable  purposes  in  his 
hand  :  but  he  himself  declares  in  his  word,  that  such 
kings  are  set  up  not  by  him.  The  Pagan  Roman 
government  is  described,  in  Revelation,  as  the 
empire  of  the  dragon,  and  all  the  kings  who  sup- 
port Antichrist  are  said,  in  the  same  infallible 
word,  to  have  received  from  Satan  their  authority. 
God  has  declared  their  overthrow  an(^  destruction, 
and  no  Protestant  should  recognize  them  as  the 
ordinance  of  God,  to  which  they  must  yield  con- 
scientious support.  The  present  king,  Charles  II., 
has  violated  the  constitution  of  Scotland ;  he  has 


94  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

broken  the  covenant  which  he  made  with  God  and 
man  ;  he  hath  claimed,  as  an  essential  part  of  royal 
prerogative,  a  blasphemous  supremacy  in  the 
Church  ;  he  has  overturned  our  ecclesiastical  order, 
banished  the  faithful  ministry,  and  persecuted  the 
most  virtuous  inhabitants  of  the  land  :  such  a  per- 
jured usurper  and  tyrant  cannot  be  considered  as  a 
lawful  magistrate  by  the  reformed  Presbyterian 
covenanters." 

These  arguments  exhibit  the  good  sense  and 
courage  which  sincere  piety  infused  in  the  Scottish 
martyrs.  Power,  however,  was  upon  the  side  of  the 
oppressor.  Twenty  years  of  persecution  reduced 
the  reformed  Presbyterian  Church  to  a  small  num- 
ber of  ministers.  The  courts  of  judicature  had  been 
prevented  from  meeting  from  the  very  beginning, 
and  no  regular  processes  for  ecclesiastical  discipline 
were  attainable.  It  was  necessary,  however,  to 
administer  Church  censure  upon  those  who  betrayed 
the  cause  of  religion,  and  who  gave  themselves  up 
to  immorality.  The  king  himself  had  been  admitted 
a  member  of  the  Church,  and  many  of  his  courtiers 
had  formerly  been  professed  disciples  of  Christ. 
Those  who  renounce  the  faith,  however  high  in 
power,  should  never  be  admitted  to  escape,  as  fugi- 
tives from  discipline.  These  correct  sentiments 
about  the  discipline  of  the  Church  influenced  one 
of  the  pious  and  most  faithful  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel then  living,  to  pronounce  the  solemn  sentence 
of  excommunication  upon  the  base  apostates,  who 


DISCIPLINE   OF   THE    CHURCH.  95 

bad  thrown  aside  even  every  pretension  to  re- 
ligion. 

The  Rev.  Daniel  Cargill  did,  upon  the  17th  day 
of  September,  1680,  at  Torwood,  in  Stirlingshire, 
excommunicate  Charles  II.  and  six  others  of  the 
most  noted  persecutors,  in  the  presence  of  a  vast 
concourse  of  people.  Sufficient  documents  were 
produced  of  their  having  been  guilty  of  drunken- 
ness, hypocrisy,  perjury,  heresy,  bloodshed,  and 
adultery  ;  and  although  they  were  now  publicly 
caressed  as  suitable  members  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  and  one  of  them  was  the  avowed  head  of 
that  Church,  they  certainly  deserved  this  awful  and 
solemn  sentence.     The  faithfulness  of  Mr.  Cargrill 

o 

excited  the  persecutors  to  madness.  They,  in  re- 
turn for  his  casting  them  out  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  persecuted  him  unto  the  death,  and  thus 
hastened  him  to  the  kingdom  of  glory.  He  died 
in  the  full  assurance  of  faith.  After  his  death,  the 
Church  was  left  destitute  of  a  regular  ministry. 
Search  was  diligently  made  by  the  enemy  for  all 
the  students  of  divinity  that  were  inclined  to  Pres- 
byterianism,  and  they  also  were  executed. 

The  spirit  of  the  covenanters  w^as  not,  however, 
entirely  broken.  They  established  among  them- 
selves a  general  correspondence.  The  societies  in 
each  shire  were  connected  by  a  particular  corre- 
spondence of  delegates,  and  these  correspondences 
w^ere  again  connected  in  a  representative  general 
meeting.     This  plan  was  highly  expedient  in  their 


9G  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

situation,  as  they  had  no  properly  organized  Church. 
It  was  a  measure  of  expediency,  dictated  by  the 
necessity  of  the  times.  The  general  meeting  man- 
aged everything  of  common  concern  to  the  societies. 
They  claimed  neither  civil  nor  ecclesiastical  power. 
They  exercised  no  part  of  Church  discipline.  They 
endeavored,  however,  to  procure  a  faithful  ministry. 
They  commissioned  the  Laird  of  Earlston  aud  Sir 
Robert  Hamilton,  two  learned  and  godly  men,  to 
represent  their  case  to  the  foreign  Churches.  And 
these  commissioners  opened  a  door,  by  the  blessing 
of  Providence,  through  which  they  received  min- 
isterial aid.  The  Rev.  Richard  Cameron,  who 
valiantly  contended  for  the  faith  delivered  to  the 
saints,  and  for  the  violated  liberties  of  his  much- 
injured  country,  and  who  fell  at  Airmoss  in  1G80, 
had  been  ordained  in  Rotterdam  for  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church.  Mr.  James  Ren  wick  was  now 
ordained  by  the  Classis  of  Groningen.  He  was  a 
man  of  remarkable  piety,  and  recommended  him- 
self exceedingly  to  these  godly  divines  of  the 
Church  of  Holland  by  his  unwavering  faithfulness. 
He  explained  to  them  his  principles,  and  bore  an 
explicit  testimony  against  the  remaining  corrup- 
tions of  the  Belgic  Church.  He  refused  ordination 
at  Embden,  where  it  was  first  offered  to  him,  be- 
cause the  ministry  of  that  place  had  embraced  the 
Cocceian  errors.'^     Even  at  Groningen,  he  would  on 

*  John  Cocceius  was  a  very  learned  divine  of  the  Church  of  Holland, 
and  professor  of  divinity  in  the  university  of  Leyden.     Men  of  genius 


RICHARD   CAMERON.  97 

no  account  subscribe  the  constitution  and  catechism 
of  the  Dutch  Church.  Sensible  of  the  justness  of 
his  animadversions, and  impressed  with  the  solemnity 
and  integrity  wliich  appeared  in  whatever  he  said, 
these  godly  ministers  declared  it  was  the  Lord's 
cause,  and  although  all  the  powers  on  earth  should 
resent  it,  they  would  ordain  to  the  holy  ministry 
this  eminently  pious  youth. 

He  subscribed,  in  the  presence  of  the  Classis,  the 
confession  and  standards  agreed  upon  by  the  As- 
sembly at  Westminster,  and  he  was  ordained,  with 
the  imposition  of  hands,  a  minister  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ,  for  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church, 
now  suffering  in  Scotland.  For  this  remarkable 
condescension  in  the  Church  of  Holland,  the  Scot- 
tish covenanters  are  obliged  to  the  pious  exertions 
of  Sir  Robert  Hamilton,  as  the  instrument  employed 
by  God  to  assist  Mr.  Renwick  in  convincing  these 
pious  divines  of  the  superior  purity  of  the  cove- 
nanted Church  of  Scotland.  Professor  Witsius, 
Professor  Mark,  and  Mr.  Brakel  distinguished  them- 


are  naturally  disposed  to  be  inventive.  Originality,  the  idol  to  which 
all  men  are  apt  to  bow,  is  the  object  to  which  great  men  direct  their 
principal  attention,  unless  they  are  restrained  by  Christian  humility. 
Cocceius  aimed  at  originality,  and  he  succeeded.  It  is,  indeed,  much 
easier  for  a  man  of  genius  to  invent  an  erroneous  system,  than  to  dis- 
cover and  illustrate  truth. 

The  Cocceiuns  consider  the  historical  part  of  the  Old  Testament  as 
typical  of  the  now  dispensation.  The  ceremonial  law  they  view  as  a 
punishment  intiicted  on  the  Jews  for  their  transgressions,  particularly 
for  having  worshipped  the  golden  calf.  Tiiey  deny  the  morality  of  the 
fourth  commandment. 

7 


98  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

selves  as  the  friends  of  the  covenanters.  Upon  Mr. 
Renwick's  return  to  his  native  country,  his  ministry 
was  blessed,  as  the  means  of  refreshing  thousands, 
who  waited  upon  it  in  the  fields  and  mountains. 
The  societies  had  no  access  to  public  ordinances, 
except  those  administered  by  Mr.  Renwick  and 
Mr.  Alex.  Shields,  who  had  been  licensed  by  Pres- 
byterian ministers  in  England,  and  one  or  two  more 
who  occasionally  came  over  from  Ireland.  As  Mr. 
Renwick  was  the  most  faithful,  he  was  the  most 
exposed  to  danger.  He  was  at  last  put  to  a  deci- 
sive proof  of  his  faithfulness.  He  continued  un- 
moved in  the  hour  of  trial.  He  was  condemned, 
and  executed  upon  the  17th  February,  1688,  in 
the  26th  year  of  his  age,  and  sixth  of  his  ministry. 
He  is  the  last  person  who  suffered  death  in  Scotland 
on  account  of  religion  -,  the  last  martyr  to  the  cov- 
enanted reformation. 

To  the  remnant  of  the  persecuted  Church  the 
gospel  was  preached,  after  Mr.  Renwick's  death,  by 
Mr.  Shields,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Linning,  who  had 
been  ordained  at  Embden,  and  Mr.  WiUiam"  Boyd, 
who  had  been  licensed  at  Groningen.  These  gen- 
tlemen maintained  the  reformation  testimony  with- 
out molestation,  until  the  revolution. 


REVOLUTION    SETTLEMENT.  99 


CHAPTER   II. 

FROM  THE  REVOLUTION  SETTLEMENT  IN  BRITAIN  UN- 
TIL THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  REFORMED  PRESBY- 
TERY IN  THE  UNITED   STATES   OF  AMERICA. 

The  revolution  which  placed  the  Prince  of  Orange 
upon  the  British  throne,  is  intimately  connected 
with  the  history  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church.  William  was  educated  bv  John  De  Witt, 
who  directed  the  affairs  of  Holland  with  ability  and 
integrity.  The  pupil,  in  an  early  period  of  life, 
excelled  his  instructor  as  a  warrior  and  politician. 
The  Prince  of  Orange  was  grave,  intrepid,  intelli- 
gent, and  deceitful.  Made  Stadtholder  of  Holland, 
and  being  the  soul  of  the  confederacy  against  the 
tyranny  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth  of  France,  he  com- 
manded the  respect  of  all  Europe.  The  Protestants 
considered  him  as  their  principal  support.  He  was 
married  to  the  Princess  Mary,  heir  apparent  to  the 
crown  of  England,  until  the  birth  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  James,  the  future  Pretender.  Those  who  in 
England  retained  any  sense  of  religion  and  liberty, 
looked  up  to  Prince  William  as  their  deliverer  from 
the  yoke  of  bondage  under  which  Charles  the  Sec- 
ond had  brought  them,  and  which  his  brother  and 
successor,  James  the  Second,  had  rendered  more 
severe.  William,  inured  to  dissimulation,  published 
a  declaration,  enumerating  the  grievances  of  the 
British  nation,  and  disclaiming  any  intention,  upon 


100  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

his  own  part,  to  assume  any  power  but  what  was 
necessary  to  defend  a  free  Parliament  in  settling  a 
regular  constitution.  When  he  landed  in  England, 
his  father-in-law  James  was  seized  with  terror,  ab- 
dicated the  throne,  and  escaped  to  the  continent. 
To  the  vacant  throne  King  William  was  called,  and 
he  embraced  the  invitation.  The  crown  of  Scot- 
land w^as  also  conferred  on  him. 

The  revolution  of  1G88  was  conducted  upon  prin- 
ciples which  should  never  be  forgotten.  The  Scot- 
tish convention  passed  a  decisive  vote,  that  King 
James,  hy  his  abuse  of  jjoiver^  had  forfeited  all  title  to 
the  crown,  and  that  it  be  conferred  on  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  The  English  Parliament  declared,  that  King 
James  the  Second,  having  endeavored  to  subvert  the  con- 
stitution, by  breaJcing  the  original  contract  between  the  king 
and  the  iieople,  did  abdicate  the  throne. 

Both  kingdoms  did,  by  these  acts,  establish  two 
grand  principles :  That  the  abuse  of  power  destroys 
the  right  to  exercise  it,  and  that  a  people  may  de- 
pose their  rulers.  Several  thousand  Presbyterian 
covenanters  had  been  sacrificed  by  the  house  of 
Stuart  for  maintaining  these  sentiments,  which  are 
now  universally  admitted  as  the  just  maxims  of 
civil  policy. 

The  martj'rs  of  the  reformation  had  uniformly 
declared  that  no  allegiance  was  due  to  those  rulers 
who  abuse  their  power,  who  violate  the  constitution, 
and  subvert  righteousness.  They  declared  the  law^- 
fulness  of  bearing  arms  in  the  defence  of  religion 


CIVIL   LIBERTY.  101 

and  liberty,  and  of  deposing  kings.  They  refused 
to  recognize  any  authority  which  was  founded  upon 
a  violation  of  the  constitution^  to  which  they  had, 
by  solemn  covenant,  declared  their  assent.  They 
were,  on  this  account,  persecuted  and  destroyed  by 
the  abettors  of  royalty  and  episcopacy. 

The  doctrine  of  passive  obedience  and  non-resistance 
was  preached  and  published  from  the  pulpits  of  the 
establishment,  and  it  was  asserted  in  the  name  of 
God,  that  no  power,  whether  heathen,  popish,  or 
prelatic,  could  be  lawfully  disowned.  The  constant 
cry  was  a  perverted  Scripture  passage  :  "  The  pow- 
ers that  be  are  ordained  of  God."  Reason  and 
Scripture,  and  nature^  revolt  at  such  maxims.  Rea- 
son and  Scripture  are,  nevertheless,  perverted,  as 
often  as  the  perversion  is  supposed  convenient. 
While  submission  to  constituted  authorities  serves 
the  ease,  the  inclination,  and  the  interests  of  men, 
many  will  feel  disposed  to  become  its  advocates. 
Abstract  argument,  however  just,  divine  revela- 
tion, however  clear,  are  but  feeble  barriers  against 
the  torrent  of  selfishness  amidst  the  fallen  family 
of  man.  Nature  pleads  a  more  forcible  eloquence. 
When  a  vn^w  feels  himself  oppressed,  he  will  believe 
that  resistance  is  lawful.  Whensoever  the  poivers 
that  he  are  hostile  to  a  person's  interest,  inclination, 
and  personal  safetj^,  he  will  believe  it  lawful  to  use 
means  for  overturning  such  power.  The  maxims 
of  truth  are  uniformly  consistent  and  capable  of 
universal  application,  but  the  doctrine  of  passive 


102  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

obedience  to  every  kind  of  civil  power,  is  necessarily 
inconsistent  with  itself.  When  it  accords  with  in- 
terest, all  parties  are  willing,  in  every  country,  to 
join  in  overturning  constituted  authorities. 

This  was  remarkably  the  case  at  the  period  of 
the  revolution.  During  the  reign  of  Charles  it 
was  the  interest  of  the  prelacy  to  establish  power 
over  right,  to  support  the  infamous  head  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  his  efforts  to  overturn  the  con- 
stitution which  reformed  Presbyterians  had  framed 
and  ratified. 

But  when  James  was  preparing  to  introduce 
Popery,  and  subvert  the  prelacy,  it  was  thought 
virtue,  even  by  the  Episcopalians,  to  disown  his 
authority.  Then  did  they  court  the  favor  of  the 
persecuted  dissenters,  and  solicit  their  influence 
in  calling  over,  for  their  mutual  deliverance,  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  a  Presbyterian  of  the  Church  of 
Holland.  The  university  of  Oxford  exceeded,  both 
in  zeal  for  the  doctrine  of  submission,  and  in  the 
inconsistency  of  their  practice  with  the  doctrine, 
all  their  contemporaries.  They  gave  the  solemn 
sanction  of  their  high  authority  to  that  maxim  first 
inculcated  by  Mahomet,  the  grand  impostor, — 
Obedience  is  due  to  the  authorities  of  a  nation,  lohether 
ihey  he  constituted  upon  just  or  unjust  'principles.  The 
divines  of  the  university  drew  up  twenty-seven 
propositions,  extracted  from  the  writings  of  Bu- 
chanan, Baxter,  Owen,  Milton,  Goodwin,  and 
others,  who  had  maintained  that  the  people  might 


PRESBYTERIAN    COVENANTERS.  103 

examine  whether  they  who  are  in  power  have  a 
right  to  rule,  and  that  when  kings  forfeit  their  right 
to  government,  although  they  possess  power,  they 
may  be  resisted. 

They  passed  a  decree  in  full  convocation,  July 
21,  1683,  condemning  these  principles  as  damna- 
ble doctrines,  as  destructive  to  all  human  society,  and 
declaring  them  to  be  impious,  seditious,  heretical, 
and  blasphemous.  Four  years  thereafter,  however, 
they  resisted  the  authority  of  the  king ;  and  refusing 
to  practise  that  passive  obedience  which  they  them- 
selves had  taught,  refusing  to  submit  to  the  violation 
of  their  charter,  the  president  and  all  the  fellows, 
except  two  who  had  complied,  w^ere  expelled  the 
college.  As  soon,  however,  as  the  king  invaded 
their  property,  these  ecclesiastics  invited  the  Prince 
of  Orange  to  their  rescue ;  they  signed  an  associa- 
tion to  support  him  ;  they  offered  to  him  their  plate, 
and  declared  for  him  in  a  body,  even  w^iile  their 
sovereign,  whom,  upon  their  own  principles,  to  re- 
sist was  damnable,  was  still  on  the  throne. 

The  revolution  of  1688,  which  overturned  the 
house  of  Stuart  for  having  violated  the  civil  com- 
pact, justified  the  conduct  of  those  Presbyterian 
Covenanters  who  rejected  the  same  authority  upon 
the  same  principle,  several  years  before  this  event. 
It  also  justified  the  conduct  of  the  same  people,  in 
rejecting  the  settlement  of  King  William,  when  he 
was  invested  with  power,  in  direct  violation  of  the 
national  constitution,  which  was  settled  at  the  ref- 


104  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

ormation,  and  which  both  kingdoms,  according  to 
the  solemn  league  and  covenant,  were  bound  by 
oath  to  defend  inviolate. 

The  remnant  of  the  reformed  Presbyterian  Church 
did,  consequently,  disown  the  revolution  settlement 
both  in  Church  and  State.  An  oath  they  considered 
as  obligatory  until  the  whole  end  of  it  be  accom- 
plished. They  had  solemnly  sworn  to  defend  the 
reformation  in  their  several  places  and  stations,  to 
oppose  by  all  lawful  means  Popery,  Prelacy,  and 
Erastianism,  and  to  adhere  to  the  doctrine  and  order 
of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  as  constituted  between 
the  years  1638  and  1649.  The  covenants  they 
thought  it  their  duty  repeatedly  to  renew.  The 
faithful  testimonies  of  their  martyrs  they  were  not 
disposed  to  relinquish  or  condemn.  Erastianism 
was  interwoven  with  the  constitution  under  William 
the  Third.  He  apostatized  from  the  principles  of 
the  Church  of  Holland,  and  became  the  visible  head 
of  the  Church  of  England.  He  exercised  supremacy 
over  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  with  unhallowed 
hands  violated  the  right  bestowed  upon  the  minis- 
try, by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  calling  and  dis- 
solving at  pleasure  the  various  courts  of  judicature. 
Presbyterian  covenanters  did  not  deny  to  the  civil 
authority  the  right  of  calling  an  assembly  of  divines 
in  extraordinary  cases,  in  order  to  obtain  advice. 
They  knew  it  was  the  duty  of  the  magistrate  to 
preserve  the  peace  as  w^ell  as  the  liberty  of  Church 
courts,  by    suppressing   disorders   and    restraining 


FORMER    ATTAINMENTS.  105 

violence.  But  they  would  not  yield,  as  was  now 
done,  the  right  to  the  king's  commissioner  to  call 
and  dissolve,  at  pleasure,  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Church.  The  assembly  could  not  now  convene, 
except  by  the  royal  authority.  When  such  powers, 
therefore,  were  rendered  essential  to  the  crown  of 
Britain  by  the  revolution  settlement,  the  covenant- 
ers dissented  from  that  settlement,  refused  an  oath 
of  allegiance  to  this  Erastian  vsystem,  and  disowned 
all  the  constituted  authorities.  As  the  minority, 
they  claimed  the  right  of  enjoying  their  sentiments, 
their  lives,  and  their  property  unmolested,  while 
they  determined  to  behave  as  peaceable  and  regu- 
lar members  of  society  in  every  part  of  the  land. 
By  the  new  constitution  they  were  indeed  effectu- 
ally excluded  from  the  privileges  of  the  national 
society.  The  oaths  of  allegiance  to  the  govern- 
ment excluded  the  oath  of  the  covenants  which 
they  had  already  solemnly  sworn,  and  to  which 
they  had  themselves  bound.  Being  thus  excluded 
from  membership  in  the  national  society,  the  rulers 
in  that  society  could  by  no  means  be  recognized  as 
their  magistrates.  They  were  united  to  them  by 
no  moral  tie. 

The  Episcopal  Church  was  established  under  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  in  England  and  in  Ireland,  as 
the  true  religion  which  the  king  was  bound  by  oath 
to  defend.  Presbyterianism,  as  most  agreeable  to  the 
mind  of  the  i^eople^  was  established  in  Scotland  under 
the  same  form  which  obtained  before  the  last  refor- 


106  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

mation.  The  Episcopal  curates,  who  chose  to  con- 
form to  the  Presbyterian  form  of  government,  the 
old  Presbyterian  ministers,  who  conformed  to  the 
preceding  Episcopal  establishment,  the  indulged 
ministers,  who  received  appointments  and  orders 
from  the  two  tyrannical  kings  which  preceded  the 
revolution,  and  a  few  of  the  banished  ministers 
now  returned  to  their  native  country,  united  in  one 
body,  composed  the  ministry  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  in  the  present  settlement.  Those  who 
retained  an  attachment  to  their  former  attainments, 
hoped  that  their  influence  might  hereafter  obtain 
some  reformation.  And  with  these  hopes  they  em- 
braced a  system  which  they  were  very  far  from  ap- 
proving. These  hopes  were  frustrated.  They  were 
indeed  ill  founded.  In  Scotland  there  were  then 
eight  hundred  and  ninety  parishes.  A  great  num- 
ber of  these  were  now  vacant.  Apostate  Presby- 
terians formed  the  majority  of  the  ministry  in  those 
which  were  supplied.  Four  hundred  parishes  were 
supplied  with  so  many  Episcopal  curates.  These, 
sacrificing  principle,  and  submitting,  for  the  sake 
of  their  stipends,  to  the  Presbyterian  name,  joined 
in  the  phalanx  opposed  to  the  former  reformation. 
Composed  of  such  materials,  it  was  madness  to  ex- 
pect from  the  revolution  Church  any  reformation. 
Delivered,  however,  as  it  were,  miraculously,  from  a 
dreadful  persecution,  and  surprised  to  find  them- 
selves even  in  such  a  comfortable  situation,  al- 
though they  contemplated  with  sorrow  the  general 


TRUE   TO    PRINCIPLE.  107 

defection  of  the  Church  covenanters,  they  entered 
into  her  communion.  Even  the  very  men  who  en- 
dured the  persecution  without  dropping  any  part 
of  their  testimony,  were  allured  out  of  the  path  of 
integrity  by  this  change  which  took  place  in  the 
state  of  ajffairs.  Those  who  preached  the  gospel 
at  the  risk  of  their  lives  to  the  wandering  societies 
amidst  the  mountains,  were  unable  to  withstand  the 
torrent  of  popularity  which  accompanied  all  the 
actions  and  speeches  of  the  present  king.  Heed- 
less-of  consequences,  Messrs.  Linning  and  Boyd  de- 
serted the  societies  of  the  reformed  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  persuaded  even  the  author  of  the 
Hind  let  loose  to  relinquish  the  principles  which  he 
formerly  so  ably  defended.  Mr.  Alexander  Shields 
was  prevailed  upon  by  his  two  brethren  to  join  in 
communion  with  the  estabhshed  Church.  He  re- 
pented of  his  compliance,  but  not  in  time  to  recover 
what  he  lost,  his  character.  He  embarked  for  the 
continent  as  chaplain  to  a  regiment,  which  fought 
in  league  with  the  Pope.  Having  violated  his  cov- 
enant with  God  and  his  Church,  by  which  he  was 
bound  to  oppose  the  power  of  Antichrist,  we  soon 
find  him  in  an  army  employed  to  defend  the  man 
of  sin.  He  afterwards  embarked  in  the  expedition 
to  Darien,  and  after  having  experienced  the  utmost 
distress,  died  unknown  and  neglected  in  Jamaica.* 

*  There  was  not  found  in  any  of  the  three  kingdoms,  any  one  min- 
ister who  maintained  the  principles  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church,  consistently,  at  that  period,  except  the  Rev.  Mr.  David  Hous- 
ton. He  passed  over  to  Ireland,  and  continued  faithful  unto  the  day 
of  his  death. 


108  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

The  covenanters  were  now  again  left  destitute 
of  a  public  ministry.  This  was  a  grievous  dispen- 
sation to  persons  who  loved,  as  they  did,  the  ordi- 
nances appointed  by  Christ. 

As  true  to  the  principles  of  Presbyterian  order, 
they  would  not  call  to  the  exercise  of  a  part  of  the 
ministerial  office  any  whom  they  could  not  invite 
to  the  discharge  of  the  whole  of  its  duties.  They 
would  not  call  any  one  to  preach  the  word  to  them, 
whom  they  could  not  admit  to  dispense  the  sacra- 
ments. Neither  would  they  attend  anywhere  to 
the  ministry  of  the  word,  except  where  they  could 
conscientiously  join  in  visible  communion.  As  pub- 
lic teaching  is,  equally  with  the  administration  of 
the  sacraments,  exclusively  the  province  of  the 
ministry,  they  attended  to  the  more  private  ordi- 
nances of  the  gospel,  in  hopes  that  God  would 
visit  them  in  time  with  faithful  pastors.  They  lived 
as  brethren ;  they  worshipped  socially  in  praying 
societies ;  they  conversed  freely  about  the  whole 
salvation  of  Christ;  they  read  many  valuable  au- 
thors, and  were  uniformly  considered  as  more  pious 
and  intelligent  than  those  who  had  an  opportunity 
of  hearing  sermons  every  Sabbath.  They  seem  now 
to  have  been  cut  off  from  the  possibility  of  ever 
recovering  a  standing  ministry.  They  would  have 
considered  it  little  short  of  blasphemy,  to  have 
ordained  to  office  any  one,  however  qualified,  in 
any  other  method  than  that  of  Christ's  appoint* 
ment  —  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  a  presbytery. 


REV.  JOHN  McMillan.  109 

Did  they  appoint  a  minister  themselves,  he  must  be 
the  creature  and  servant  of  man  ;  not  the  ambassa- 
dor of  our  Redeemer.  Their  hearts  trembling  for 
the  Ark,  they  would  not  give  it  a  wrong  touch. 
They  preferred  suffering  to  sin.  Young  men  of 
education  could  not,  therefore,  obtain  ordination 
among  them.  The  judicatories  of  the  established 
Church  w^ould  ordain  none,  without  he  complied 
with  their  sinful  terms  of  communion.  The  Churches 
of  Holland,  also,  refused  to  act  upon  their  former 
condescension.  Sixteen  years  were  passed  after 
the  defection  of  their  ministers  at  the  revolution, 
before  the  remainintr  friends  of  the  covenanted 
reformation  were  supplied  with  a  public  ministry. 
In  the  year  1706,  the  Kev.  John  McMillan  acceded 
to  them  from  the  judicatories  of  the  established 
Church. 

Mr.  McMillan,  and  a  few  of  his  brethren  in  the 
ministry,  had  for  some  time  entertained  a  hope  of 
procuring  a  general  reformation.  But  the  propor- 
tion of  the  faithful  to  the  lukewarm  in  church 
judicatories  was  too  small  to  have  any  influence. 
Petitions  for  redress  of  grievances  have  been  pre- 
sented to  the  assembly,  from  time  to  time,  from 
nearly  two  thousand  respectable  Christians,  but 
without  effect.  The  power  of  choosing  their  own 
ministers  had  been  taken  from  the  cons^reo-ations, 
and  patronage  restored.  Discipline  was  relaxed, 
immorality  and  heresy  were  tolerated  in  the  Church, 
and  the  remembrance  of  the  reformation  was  fast 


110  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

declining.  Those  who  defended  the  good  order  of 
the  church  against  their  apostatizing  brethren,  were 
sure  of  being  censured  by  the  majority.  The  faith- 
fulness and  zeal  of  Mr.  McMillan  provoked  the 
indignation  of  those  who  were  conscious  of  the 
badness  of  their  own  cause.  They  determined  to 
banish  him  from  a  flock  who  sincerely  loved  him ; 
and  they  consequently  passed  against  him  a  sen- 
tence of  deposition  from  the  ministry.  Against 
these  cruel  and  unjust  proceedings  Mr.  McMillan 
protested ;  and  the  ministry  which  he  had  received 
in  a  regular  manner  from  his  Lord,  he  refused  to 
resign  to  the  caprice  and  wickedness  of  men  who 
had  no  crime  to  charge  him  with,  except  his  faith- 
fulness to  the  principles  of  the  reformed  Presbyte- 
rian Church.  The  societies  called  him  to  the  min- 
istry among  them,  and  he  was  afterwards  joined  in 
that  work  by  others.  Those  who  had  for  a  long 
time  been  deprived  of  the  public  ordinances,  were 
now  greatly  refreshed  by  the  preached  gospel.  They 
rejoiced  that  an  organized  visible  Church  was  again 
to  be  found  in  the  land,  iipon  the  footing  of  the 
once  glorious  reformation.  This  visible  Covenant 
Society  was  indeed  small  and  despised.  They  re- 
solved, however,  as  witnesses,  to  maintain  a  faithful 
testimony,  and  like  their  brethren,  the  primitive 
disciples,  to  go  forth  to  their  Redeemer  without  the 
camp,  bearing  his  reproach.  They  considered  that 
the  principles  of  the  reformation  were  still  as  true 
and  as  valuable  as  they  had  been,  when  they  were 


REFORMED    PRESBYTERY.  '  111 

embraced  generally  in  the  three  kingdoms  of  the 
Isles  of  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  when  they  were 
admired  by  all  the  Protestant  Churches  of  Europe. 
They  sincerely  lamented  their  own  inability  to 
introduce  them  advantageously  to  public  notice ; 
but  they  were  resolved,  in  their  humble  sphere,  to 
collect  them  faithfully ;  to  bind  them  up  in  one 
testimony ;  and  to  seal  them  as  the  law  of  the 
house,  among  the  disciples  of  our  Lord.  They  took 
pleasure  in  the  dust  of  Zion. 

The  reformed  Presbytery  in  Scotland  did,  in  the 
year  1761,  publish  an  act,  declaration,  and  testimony 
in  behalf  of  the  doctrine,  worship,  discipline,  and 
government  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  object  of  this  publication  was  to  exhibit  a  cor- 
rect statement  of  their  own  principles,  and  to  de- 
fend them  by  just  reasoning.  They  relate  the 
various  steps  of  reformation  in  Scotland ;  they 
express  their  approbation  of  the  conduct  of  the 
faithful  martyrs  ;  the}^  disapprove  of  the  constituted 
authorities  of  Britain  ;  and  they  declare  their  unity 
with  the  reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  solemnly 
recognizing  the  full  obligation  of  the  covenants 
upon  themselves  and  their  posterity.  This  publica- 
tion is  considered  as  a  bond  of  connection  among 
themselves,  and  one  of  the  terms  upon  which  they 
join  together  in  ministerial  and  Christian  com- 
munion. It  is  a  valuable  document  of  the  Church's 
faithfulness.  It  is  an  excellent  mean  of  handing 
down  to  posterity,  in  every  nation,  a  just  account 


112  •        HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

and  an  able  defence  of  the  contendings  of  the  wit- 
nesses against  the  man  of  sin. 

This  testimony,  in  connection  with  the  eccle- 
siastical standards,  compiled  by  the  assembly  of 
divines  at  Westminster,  the  national  covenant 
of  Scotland,  and  the  solemn  league  of  three  king- 
doms, England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland,  affords  a 
scriptural  defence  and  full  exhibition  of  the  refor- 
mation in  its  best  state.  The  reformed  presbytery 
have,  since  that  period,  published  several  testi- 
monies and  warnings  against  the  evils  and  errors 
which  from  time  to  time  prevailed  around  them. 
A  presbytery  of  the  same  name  and  principles  has 
also  been  erected  in  Ireland.  The  number  of  these 
witnesses  of  the  reformation  has  been  gradually 
increasing  during  the  eighteenth  century,  and  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  year  1774  a  court  of  judicature 
had  been  erected  in  America,  with  the  design  of 
preserving  the  spirit  and  practice  of  the  covenanted 
reformation. 


CHAPTER   III. 

A  HISTORICAL  VIEW  OF  THE  STATE  OF  THE  REFORMED 
PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA,  UNTIL  THE  RAT- 
IFICATION OF  THEIR  TESTIMONY  IN  MAY,  1806. 

The  reformed  Presbytery  was  constituted  in 
America  for  the  first  time,  in  the  year  1774,  by 
three  ministers,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  John   Cuthbert- 


CHURCH    IN   AMERICA.  ^        113 

son,  Matthew  Lind,  and  Alexander  Dobbin,  with 
rulino;  elders.  These  ministers  had  been  sent  over 
from  Europe,  in  order  to  organize  the  Church  in 
America. 

During  the  persecution,  several  members  of  the 
reformed  Presbyterian  Church  left  their  native 
country  to  seek  an  asylum  in  the  western  world. 
These  and  their  descendants  were  found  collecting 
into  praying  societies,  as  they  were  wont  to  do  in 
their  own  land,  upon  the  footing  of  the  reformation 
principles  in  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. They  kept  themselves  distinct  from  the  other 
worshipping  societies  which  they  found  formed  or 
forming  in  the  land  in  which  they  were  come  to 
sojourn,  as  judging  them  no  way  disposed  to  enter 
into  the  full  spirit  of  the  covenanted  reformation. 
They  considered  themselves  under  obligations  to 
walk  by  the  rule  of  their  former  attainments,  and 
even  essayed  to  renew  their  covenant  with  God  in 
a  public,  social  manner.  About  the  year  1743  the 
covenanters  in  the  colony  of  Pennsylvania  met  For 
the  renovation  of  their  vows  at  Middle  Octarara. 
This  work  was  carried  on  with  the  assistance  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Craighead.  Mr.  Craighead  was  a  minister 
in  connection  with  a  synod  of  Presbyterians,  which, 
several  years  before  this  time,  had  been  organized 
in  America.  This  Presbyterian  body  was  a  new 
organization,  perfectly  distinct  from  the  Presbyterian 
Churches  in  any  part  of  Europe.  The  ministers 
who  composed  it  were  not  commissioned  by  any 
8 


114  HISTOIUCAL   VIEW. 

ecclesiastical  judicatory  to  organize  a  subordinate 
judicatory  in  America.  Some  of  them  had  emi- 
grated from  Scotland,  some  from  Ireland  and  Eng- 
land, and  providentially  meeting  in  America,  they 
erected  a  presbytery  for  the  better  regulation  of 
the  Churches  which  they  were  planting.  Some 
Congregational  ministers  from  New  England  having 
settled  in  the  Middle  States,  chose  the  Presbyterian 
system,  and  uniting  with  the  other  Presbyterians, 
they  after  some  time  organized  themselves  into  a 
synod.  They  adopted  no  fixed  ecclesiastical  stan- 
dards. They  only  professed  adherence  to  the  West- 
minster confession  of  faith  in  its  essential  doctrines, 
and  each  person  was  to  be  judge  in  his  own  case 
of  what  was  essential.  In  this  constitution  were 
laid  those  seeds  of  discordant  principles  and  general 
debility  which  have  since  characterized  the  Presby- 
terian Ohurch  in  this  country,  under  the  direction 
of  a  general  assembly.  Mr.  Craighead,  with  ap- 
parent fervency,  objected  to  the  deficiency  of  the 
system  upon  which  the  Presbyterian  synod  was 
constituted,  and  with  seeming  sincerity,  joined  him- 
self to  the  support  of  the  languishing  cause  of  the 
reformed  Presbyterian  Church. 

He  did  not,  however,  possess  stability.  Over- 
strained zeal  is  seldom  permanent.  This  man,  after 
having  co-operated  with  the  covenanters,  with  an 
ardor  which  appeared  to  some  of  them  enthusiastic, 
left  his  profession  and  vows,  and  turned  to  the  flocks 
of  his  former  companions. 


AMERICAN    INDEPENDENCE.  115 

The  societies  which  he  now  had  forsaken,  were 
again  left  destitute  of  a  fixed  pastor.  Eight  years 
they  continued  in  this  distressed  condition,  until 
moved  by  their  entreaties,  Mr.  Cuthbertson  arrived 
in  America,  from  the  reformed  Presbytery  in  Scot- 
land, in  the  year  1752. 

Twenty  years  did  Mr.  Cuthbertson  serve  alone 
the  Church  in  America.  He  visited  the  different 
societies  which  were  formed  throu^-hout  the  different 
colonies  upon  reformation  principles.  He  animated 
them  to  perseverance.  Exposed  to  danger  almost 
constantly  from  the  servants  of  the  British  crown, 
who  were  then  endeavoring  to  confirm  over  the 
American  colonies  the  doubly  grievous  yoke  of 
tyranny  and  episcopacy,  he  endeavored  to  inspire 
his  friends  with  confidence  in  the  justice  of  their 
cause,  and  with  hopes  that  God  in  his  providence 
would,  in  his  own  time,  deliver  them  from  bondage. 
In  1773  Rev.  Mr.  Martin  emigrated  from  Ireland 
to  South  Carolina,  and  in  1774  Messrs.  Lind  and 
Dobbin  were  sent  to  this  country  by  the  Reformed 
Presbytery  of  Ireland.  These  with  Mr.  Cuthbertson 
constituted  a  Presbytery,  and  the  reformed  Presby- 
terian Church  put  on  a  regular  appearance  as  an 
organized  visible  society  in  the  colonies  of  America. 

Soon  after  this  event  the  American  war  com- 
menced. The  inhabitants  of  the  colonies  met  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia,  by  their  representatives, 
and  declared  themselves  an  independent  nation  on 
the  fourth  of  July,  1776.     When  the  revolutions  of 


116  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

nations  are  considered  as  a  work  of  the  Head  of 
the  Church,  for  the  sake  of  his  peculiar  people,  the 
era  of  American  independence  will  be  reviewed  as 
important.  The  declaration  of  independence,  and 
the  subsequent  state  of  the  American  republic, 
demand  the  serious  attention  of  the  Christian  divine 
and  the  moral  philosopher. 

The  visible  Church  in  the  United  States,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  revolution,  was  very  much 
divided.  All  the  national  Churches  of  Europe, 
whether  Popish  or  Protestant,  appeared  here  in 
miniature,  and  all  the  sectaries  arising  from  each 
of  the  European  establishments  were  also  to  be 
found  in  the  land.  Those  religious  denominations 
which  had  in  Europe  labored  under  restrictions, 
finding  themselves  at  liberty  in  America,  acquired 
additional  animation.  Various  other  circumstances 
contributed  to  give  an  enterprising  turn  to  the 
minds  of  men  in  this  country.  Emigration  always 
produces  enterprise.  Necessity  calls  for  invention. 
Success  encourages  further  endeavors.  A  new 
country,  settled  from  old  kingdoms,  in  which  pov- 
erty and  oppression  were  the  portion  of  the  major- 
ity of  the  inhabitants,  could  not  fail  to  excite  the 
mental  faculties,  by  rewarding  industry  with  power 
and  wealth.  Men  were  thus  prepared  to  act  with 
less  caution,  and  with  more  boldness,  than  formerly, 
in  religious  affairs.  It  is  not  at  all  surprising  that 
we  find  instances  of  unsteadiness  and  enthusiasm 
very   frequently   among    the    inhabitants    of    the 


EFFORTS   AT   UNION.  117 

United  States.  A  deficiency  in  the  system  of  edu- 
cation also  fosters  ignorance  and  enthusiasm. 
Seminaries  of  literature  are  as  yet  in  their  infancy. 
The  plan  of  instruction  is  universally  frivolous  and 
unsubstantial.  The  youth  are  especially  neglected 
as  to  religious  education,  and  those  who  publicly 
officiate  as  the  ministers  of  religion,  are  often  alto- 
gether illiterate,  and  too  generally  superficial  schol- 
ars. In  this  state  of  society,  men  mingling  with 
one  another  daily  in  their  callings,  without  respect 
to  national  or  rehgious  peculiarities,  are  likely,  in 
the  present  degenerate  state  of  our  nature,  to  ex- 
change bigotry  to  ancient  systems  for  a  specious 
liberality,  participating  of  the  nature  of  indifference 
to  religion  under  every  form.  The  acquisition  of 
national  independence,  by  cherishing  enthusiasm 
for  civil  and  religious  liberty,  did,  by  a  very  natural 
perversion,  contribute  to  render  the  public  mind 
impatient  of  the  restrictions  of  a  regular  ecclesiasti- 
cal system. 

Many  persons,  notwithstanding,  were  sensible  of 
the  propriety  of  those  principles  which  declare  the 
visible  church  One  body ;  and  were  determined  to 
use  exertions  for  uniting  those  Churches  into  one, 
which  were  already  supposed  to  hold  the  Head 
Christ,  and  to  embrace  the  leading  doctrines  of  the 
gospel.  Men  cannot  easily  divest  themselves  of 
selfish  principles.  These  were  powerful  motives  to 
the  ministers  to  seek  a  general  union.  Their  sup- 
port in  the  United  States  depended  on  the  voluntary 


118  HISTORICAL   VIEWS. 

contributions  of  those  who  waited  on  their  minis- 
try. The  salary  thus  collected  was  often  inade- 
quate to  supply  ministers  with  the  necessaries  of 
life.  The  diversity  of  opinion  among  the  people 
was,  of  course,  a  peculiar  uneasiness  to  the  minis- 
ters, while  it  was  very  injurious  to  the  people  them- 
selves in  depriving  them  of  a  regular  ministration 
of  the  ordinances  of  religion.  The  descendants  of 
the  Church  of  Holland,  of  the  English  Puritans,  and 
of  the  Presbyterians  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
were  numerous  in  the  United  States.  It  was 
thought  proper  to  use  means  for  uniting  them. 

The  forms  of  national  policy  are  very  apt  to  warp 
the  judgment  of  the  best  men.  It  is  the  effect  of 
human  wisdom ;  and  even  Christian  ministers  are 
prone  to  substitute  the  maxims  of  human  prudence 
for  the  precepts  of  inspiration.  In  America  there 
were  now  several  independent  states  united  under 
a  general  confederation,  which  exercised  a  general 
government  over  the  whole  in  matters  of  com- 
mon concern  to  all ;  and  yet  guaranteed  to  each 
its  own  independence  of  every  other  state  in  the 
Union.  In  conformity  to  this  plan,  it  was  expected 
Churches  retaining  their  peculiar  habits  and  preju- 
dices, might  be  preserved  distinct  bodies,  and  yet 
united  by  certain  general  regulations  which  should 
be  obligatory  on  all  these  denominations.  This 
plan  would  have  subverted  the  form  of  Church 
government  established  in  divine  revelation.  The 
Church  of  Christ  ought  to  be  one  visible  society  in 


EFFORTS   AT   UNION.  119 

every  nation  under  heaven  ;  and  the  subordinate 
parts  regularly  governed  by  the  superior  represen- 
tative judicatories. 

This  plan  has  proved  abortive.  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  correspondence  regularly  maintained  be- 
tween the  general  assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  and  the  general  association  of  the  Congre- 
gational Churches.  A  union  also  was  formed  by 
the  Reformed  Presbytery  and  the  Associate  Presby- 
teries ;  by  which,  instead  of  combining  two  denom- 
inations into  one,  a  third  one  was  formed  by  the 
junction  of  some  parts  of  the  other  two,  which  con- 
tinues under  the  name  of  the  Associate  Reformed 
Church.  This  new  Church  has  adopted  the  name 
commemorative  of  its  origin.  From  the  Reformed 
Presbytery,  the  term  Reformed  is  adopted ;  and 
from  the  Associate  Church,  the  former  epithet. 

The  Associate  Church  is  a  secession  from  the  rev- 
olution Church  of  Scotland.  The  present  Erastian 
establishment  of  religion  in  Scotland  opened  a  wide 
door  for  acts  of  maladministration  in  the  Church. 
Ministers  were  imposed  upon  congregations  against 
their  will,  by  the  pernicious  act  of  patronage.  This 
evil  required  redress.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Ebenezer  Ers- 
kine,  a  minister  of  the  establishment,  preached  a 
discourse  before  one  of  the  subordinate  synods,  in 
which  he  inveighed  with  bitterness  against  this  in- 
famous invasion  of  Christian  privilege.  This  dis- 
course gave  great  offence  to  the  prevailing  party 
in  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  both  superior  and  sub- 


120  HISTORICAL    VIEWS. 

ordinate.  It  gave  rise  to  an  altercation  which 
ended  in  a  rupture.  Mr.  Erskine  and  those  who 
took  part  with  him,  protested  against  the  decis- 
ions of  the  majority  in  the  Church,  and  erected  a 
new  religious  society,  under  the  name  of  the  Seces- 
sion or  Associate  Church.  .  This  event  took  place 
in  the  year  1732.  Some  of  the  seceders  were  in- 
fluenced to  separate  from  the  establishment,  on 
account  of  radical  defects  in  the  constitution,  to- 
gether with  the  various  acts  of  mal-ad ministration 
which  flowed  from  it.  Others  were  influenced  by 
the  latter  consideration  alone.  They  testified  not 
again'st  the  constitution,  but  the  administration. 
In  the  year  1746  the  secession  body  was  rent  into 
two,  and  have  since  been  known  under  the  desig- 
nations of  Burgher  and  Antiburgher  Seceders.  The 
division  was  occasioned  by  diversity  of  sentiments 
respecting  the  Burgher  oath.  In  some  towns  in 
Scotland,  those  who  were  admitted  to  the  privileges 
of  citizens  were  obliged  to  take  a  certain  oath, 
which  implied  an  acknowledgment  of  the  religion 
established  by  the  laws  of  the  land.  Such  of  the 
seceders  as  considered  the  constitution  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  radically  defective,  condemned 
this  oath  as  perjury  to  a  seceding  juror.  They 
were  called  Antiburghers.  Those,  however,  who 
separated  from  the  Church  merely  upon  the  ground 
of  the  abuses  in  the  administration,  thought  them- 
selves at  liberty  to  swear  that  they  approved  of  the 
true  religion  as  it  was  established  by  law.     These 


ASSOCIATE    CHURCH.  121 

were  called  Burghers;  and  on  account  of  their 
supposed  heresy,  were  solemnly  excommunicated 
from  the  fellowship  of  the  visible  Church  by  their 
Antiburgher  brethren.  Without  submitting  to  this 
awful  sentence,  these  Burghers  erected  themselves 
into  an  independent  Church.  Both  branches  of 
the  secession  professed  an  attachment  to  the  cove- 
nanted reformation.  They  held  themselves  bound 
by  these  vows  to  covenant  duties,  and  expressed 
their  approbation  of  the  constitution  of  both  Church 
and  state,  as  settled  by  the  reformation  between 
the  years  1638  and  1650.  They  adopted  as  their  ec- 
clesiastical standards  the  attainments  of  that  period. 
The  reformed  Presbyterian  Church  beheld  with 
joy  the  early  rise  and  progress  of  the  secession. 
They  expected,  that  having  left  the  tents  of  the 
apostate  establishment,  the  seceders  would  have 
come  forward  to  the  ground  upon  which  they  had 
stood  ever  since  that  period,  which,  by  the  most 
solemn  acknowledgment  of  seceders  themselves, 
had  been  the  most  pure  and  regular.  These  new 
contenders  for  the  faith  were  invited  to  join  a 
virtuous  minority,  who,  steadfastly  adhering  to 
their  oaths  and  covenants,  had  continued  a  consis- 
tent testimony  against  the  revolution  settlement, 
in  Church  and  state.  Conferences  were  held  for 
this  purpose.  Arguments  were  used  to  persuade 
the  secession  body  to  embrace  the  whole  reforma- 
tion settlement.  They  were,  however,  unavailing. 
Seceders  did  not  find  it  convenient  to  proceed  so 


122  HISTORICAL    VIEWS. 

far.  They  condemned  the  constitution  of  the 
Church  as  Erastian,  but  they  justified  the  state 
constitution  which  produced  the  evil.  They  con- 
sidered it  a  duty  to  refuse  submission  to  the  admin- 
istrations of  the  ministry  of  the  Church,  because 
the  ministry  had  been  corrupt;  but  a  heinous  sin 
to  refuse  submission  to  the  civil  administration, 
which  corrupted  the  ministry.  They  deemed  it 
criminal  to  incorporate  with  a  religious  society, 
whose  supreme  judicatory  could  not  act  independ- 
ently of  the  king's  commissioner;  but  they  en- 
forced allegiance  to  the  king  himself,  although  to 
be  head  of  the  Church  of  England  is  essential  to 
his  crown.  They  blamed  the  Church  of  Scotland 
for  the  evils  of  the  revolution  settlement,  aud 
prayed  for  its  reformation,  while  they  professed 
allegiance  to  the  throne,  which  was  founded  upon 
the  ruins  of  the  covenanted  reformation,  and  prayed 
for  its  establishment  and  prosperity. 

Both  the  associate  bodies  have  vehemently  op- 
posed the  reformed  presbytery,  for  dissenting  from 
the  constituted  authorities  of  both  Church  and 
state.  The  practice  of  reformed  Presbyterians 
was  consistent  with  their  principles.  They  lived 
peaceably,  acted  the  part  of  good  members  of  so- 
ciety in  private  life,  and  endeavored,  as  far  as  in 
them  lay,  to  answer  the  end  of  civil  government ; 
living  in  all  godliness  and  honesty.  The  constitu- 
tion of  Great  Britain  they  considered  to  be  immoral, 
and  to  an  immoral  establishment  they  could  not 


VIRTUOUS   MINORITY.  123 

own  allegiance.  They  adhered,  as  a  small  minority, 
to  a  civil  constitution,  to  which  the  nation  was 
bound  by  oath ;  and  although  overturned  by  per- 
jury, they  contended  it  was  still  the  law  of  the 
land.  They  of  course  dissented  from  the  resolu- 
tions of  the  majority.  They  also  viewed  the  throne 
and  the  prelacy,  inseparably  connected  in  England, 
as  stained  with  the  blood  of  their  martyred  breth- 
ren, and  as  one  of  the  pillars  of  anti-Christianism. 
They  could  not,  therefore,  wish  for  its  establish- 
ment. They  would  not  pray  to  God  for  prosperity 
to  a  system  which  they  really  desired  to  see  re- 
moved, and  which  they  knew  must  be  overturned 
when  the  Reedemer  should  establish  his  kingdon 
upon  the  ruins  of  the  man  of  sin.  The  difference  be- 
tween them  and  the  seceders  became  daily  greater. 
From  false  principles  consistency  must  produce 
erroneous  conclusions.  Every  effort  to  defend  by 
argument  the  secession  opposition  to  the  principles 
of  the  reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  led  them  on 
to  multiply  erroneous  sentiments.  The  Associate 
Church  maintained  that  Christians  had  nothing  to 
do  about  the  constitutions  of  civil  government,  but 
submit  to  whatever  order  men  should  establish, 
whether  good  or  bad.  They  taught  that  the  prop- 
er submission,  even  to  immoral  governments,  did 
not  consist  merely  in  a  peaceable  behavior  without 
tumult  or  disturbance,  but  in  a  conscientious  allegi- 
ance and  support  to  them,  as  the  ordinance  of  God. 
They  condemned  all  distinction  between  such  rulers 


124  HISTORICAL   VIEWS. 

as  happened  in  Divine  Providence  to  have  the 
power  of  a  nation  upon  unlawful  principles,  and 
such  as  ruled  by  the  divine  approbation.  The  only 
question  which  they  would  permit  a  Christian  to 
ask,  is  in  respect  to  the  matter  of  fact  —  Is  there 
any  person  actually  in  power?  if  so,  he  must  be 
recognized  as  the  ordinance  of  God.  The  powers 
that  be  are  ordained  of  God.  The  Scottish  se- 
ceders  exceeded  the  university  of  Oxford  itself 
in  maintaining  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience, 
The  controversial  writers  of  the  secession  do  in- 
deed sometimes  disclaim  the  doctrine  of  passive 
obedience,  and  admit  that  it  is  lawful  to  resist 
usurpers  and  tyrants.  Sometimes  they  plead  for  no 
more  allegiance  to  the  national  government  than 
what  is  implied  in  resignation  to  God's  Providence, 
while  we  are  suffering  for  our  correction.  But  in 
their  arguments  they  uniformly,  and  indeed  neces- 
sarily, contradict  these  maxims.  They  deny  that 
there  is  any  difference,  as  to  lawfulness,  between 
one  government  and  another.  "  The  fact  of  pos- 
sessing power  constitutes  right.  There  is  no  dis- 
tinction between  submission  for  fear  of  wrath,  to 
an  unlawful  ruler,  and  obedience,  for  conscience' 
sake,  to  legitimate  authority.  Nebuchadnezzar  was 
the  worst  of  tyrants.  Nero  was  one  of  the  most 
brutal  and  infamous  men  that  ever  possessed 
power.  Both  Nebuchadnezzar  the  tyrant,  and 
Nero  the  bloody  persecutor  and  monster  of  in- 
iquity, were  the  ordinance  of  God.    And  even  unto 


THE   UNIVERSAL   RULE.  125 

them  obedience  was  due,  for  conscience'  sake,  as 
luito  legitimate  authority.  Every  man  who  is  in 
power,  is  commissioned  as  God's  own  deputy." 
Such  are  the  arguments  of  the  seceder  disputants. 
In  order  to  preserve  consistency,  they  were  led 
to  maintain  the  following  sentiments,  and,  as  a 
Church,  to  embody  them  in  their  ecclesiastical 
standards  :  — 

"  Divine  Revelation  is  not  the  rule  by  which  men 
are  to  act  in  the  formation  of  their  civil  constitu- 
tions and  laws. 

"Jesus  Christ  does  not^  as  mediator,  govern  the 
world.     His  authority  is  confined  to  the  Church. 

"  Nations,  as  such,  are  not  bound  to  acknowledge 
Christ,  or  his  reHgion.  Magistrates  have  nothing 
to  do  with  Christianity. 

"  The  Redeemer  has  not  purchased  temporal 
benefits  for  the  saints. 

"  The  world  stands,  not  merely  on  purpose  to 
exhibit  the  system  of  grace,  but  in  order  to  bring 
into  being  the  children  of  Adam,  that  they  might 
be  punished  by  the  curse  of  the  covenant  of  works. 

"  The  world  would  have  stood,  and  all  the  gen- 
erations of  men  would  have  appeared  in  it,  even 
if  there  had  been  no  redemption  provided  for 
sinners." 

These  general  principles,  and  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  them,  carried  the  secession  Churches 
daily  further  away  from  the  reformed  Presbyterian 
standards.     Happily,  however,  for  human   society, 


126  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

experience  shows  that  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedi- 
ence to  the  powers  that  be  is  absurd.  The  British 
nation,  not  excepting  even  the  Oxford  professors, 
resisted  the  existing  authorities,  under  the  reign 
of  King  James,  and  estabhshed  the  Prince  of 
Orange.  The  seceders,  who  were  in  America,  also 
agreed  to  overturn  the  existing  authorities,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  revohition.  The  very  per- 
sons who  vehemently  opposed  the  reformed  Pres- 
bytery for  disowning  the  British  government  in 
the  year  1774,  joined  in  its  destruction  in  the 
years  which  immediately  succeeded.  The  declara- 
tion of  American  independence  is  a  national  com- 
ment on  that  great  principle  for  which  covenanters 
uniformly  contended  :  '^  we  are  not  bound  to  own, 
as  God's  ordinance,  every  one  without  exception, 
who  may  providentially  have  power  in  his  hands." 

Great  national  'revolutions  produce  a  current  of 
popular  opinion,  which  it  requires  firmness  of  mind 
in  any  man  to  resist.  The  Covenanters  in  America 
perceived  with  joy  the  United  States  rising  in  a 
bod}^,  to  resist  the  arm  which  had  been  uplifted  for 
their  oppression.  Their  expectations  of  immediate 
advantage  to  the  Church,  however,  were  too  san- 
guine. Their  love  of  liberty  exceeded  its  due 
bounds.  Many  of  them  were  carried  away  from 
their  former  principles;  and,  during  the  American 
war,  the  Eeformed  Presbytery  was  dissolved.  The 
three  ministers,  already  mentioned,  joined  with  some 
ministers  of  the  Associate   Church  in  communion, 


UNION    COMPLETED.  127 

and  formed  that  society  which  now  bears  the  name 
of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church. 

The  union  with  the  Reformed  Presbytery  was 
closed  by  the  Associate  Presbytery  of  New  York, 
in  the  year  1780,  upon  the  footing  of  ten  articles, 
which  had  been  agreed  to  by  the  Reformed  Pres- 
bytery in  the  year  1779.  The  Associate  Presbytery 
of  Pennsylvania  acceded  to  this  union,  upon  the 
basis  of  six  articles,  nearly  of  the  same  signification 
with  the  ten  already  referred  to.  The  union  was 
completed  in  the  year  1782,  after  having  been  five 
years  in  agitation.  A  party  of  the  sececlers  dissent- 
ing from  this  union,  and  appealing  to  the  Associate 
Synod  in  Scotland,  continued  upon  their  former 
ground,  retaining  the  name  and  the  power  of  the 
Associate  Presbytery  of  Pennsylvania.  These  arti- 
cles of  union  contain  many  valuable  concessions  to 
the  Reformed  Presbytery,  and,  considered  in  con- 
nection with  the  present  state  of  affairs  in  the 
United  States,  approached  the  Reformation  Tes- 
timony. 

The  practice  of  seceders  and  the  whole  nation, 
during  the  contest  for  throwing  off  the  British  yoke, 
determined  the  point,  that  in  some  cases  it  is  lawful 
to  disown  the  constituted  civil  authorities.  This 
was  an  explicit  declaration  that  Christians  are  not 
under  obligations  to  submit  to  evert/  civil  ruler  who 
providentially  possesses  power ;  that  in  some  cases 
the  constituted  authorities  are  not  the  ordinance 
of  God.     It  was  a  full  concession  to  the  Reformed 


128  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

Presbyterian  Church  of  the  great  principle,  in  re- 
lation to  a  constitution  of  civil  government,  "  It  is 
not  the  fact  that  it  does  exist,  hut  its  moral  character,  that 
determines  ivhether  it  he  the  ordinance  of  God  or  notr 
The  union  seceders  forsook  the  secession  testimony 
in  other  very  important  principles.  The  sixth  of 
the  ten  articles  of  union  declares,  that  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  kingdom  of  Providence  is  committed 
to  the  Mediator ;  and  that  the  Church  has  the 
sanctified  .use  of  that  and  every  common  benefit, 
through  the  grace  of  Christ.  The  seventh  declares, 
that  divine  revelation  is  the  rule  by  which  magis- 
trates ought  to  be  regulated.  And  the  eighth  admits 
that  a  people  may,  by  their  own  voluntary  deed, 
make  a  religious  test  essential  to  the  very  being  of 
a  magistrate  among  them.  The  ninth  article  pledges 
both  parties,  when  united,  to  adhere  to  the  stan- 
dards, compiled  by  the  Westminster  assembly.  In 
one  of  the  six  additional  articles,  covenanting  is 
termed  an  important  duty,  and  it  is  referred  to 
the  future  deliberation^  of  the  whole  body.  These 
articles  are  certainly  agreeable  to  the  principles  of 
the  Eeformed  Presbyterian  Church,  and  even  they 
who  disapproved  of  the  union,  were  happy  in  hear- 
ing seceders  make  such  declarations. 

When  Messrs.  Cuthbertson,  Lind,  and  Dobbin 
joined  in  the  Associate  Reformed  connection,  there 
remained  in  America  but  one  minister,  Mr.  Martin, 
professing  to  teach  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  refor- 
mation.    Mr.  Martin  had  arrived  in  South  Carolina, 


ASSOCIATE  REFORMED.  129 

from  Ireland,  in  1773.  Although  he  professed  the 
most  cordial  attachment  to  reformation  principles, 
he  did  not,  from  some  infirmity  of  character,  long 
possess  the  confidence  of  those  who  were  intimately 
acquainted  with  his  conduct.  He  continued,  never- 
theless, for  some  time  to  administer  ordinances. 
Several  individuals  and  societies  were  scattered 
through  the  different  States,  like  sheep  without  a 
shepherd,  who  refused  to  join  with  the  seceders,  and 
chose  to  w^ait  upon  God  in  the  private  ordinances 
of  his  grace,  rather  than  recede  from  their  cove- 
nanted testimony.  They  disapproved  of  the  union, 
and  considered  their  former  ministers  as  guilty  of 
apostasy.  The  Presbyterian  system,  they  believed 
to  be  of  divine  appointment,  and  it  was  directly 
contrary  to  its  spirit  to  leave  a  Church,  without 
assigning  any  reason  for  it,  and  especially,  w^ithout 
having  a  reason  to  assign.  The  ministers  who  em- 
braced the  union  from  the  Eeformed  Presbytery, 
declared,  that  they  still  remained  attached  to  refor- 
mation principles ;  that  if  they  were  still  in  Britain 
or  Ireland,  they  would  continue  with  their  former 
connections.  They  broke  off  from  a  confessedly 
pure  communi-on,  without  consulting  their  former 
brethren  in  the  ministry,  or  conferring  on  the 
important  subject  with  their  sister  judicatories  in 
Europe.  They  had  vowed  to  support  the  unity  of 
the  Church,  and  pursue  no  divisive  courses ;  and 
yet,  under  pretence  of  repairing  a  breach  which 
they  had  no  hand  in  making,  they,  in  spite  of  their 
9 


130  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

profession  and  their  vows,  made  a  new  schism,  by 
their  own  voluntary  act.  It  was  also  believed  by 
covenanters,  that  the  parties  who  formed  the  union 
wanted  unanimity.  The  seceders,  notwithstanding 
their  concessions  to  the  Reformed  Presbytery,  in 
the  articles  of  union,  still  courted  the  friendship  of 
the  secession  Church,  and  even  declared,  however 
inconsistently,  their  approbation  of  its  testimony. 
The  ministers  formerly  belonging  to  the  Reformed 
Presbytery  still  professed  to  approve  of  their  own 
former  testimony  against  that  of  the  secession 
Church.  It  was  expected  that  a  union  of  such  dis- 
cordant materials  would  not  prove  beneficial  to  the 
Reformed  Presbyterian  cause. 

A  great  part  of  the  Church  joined  their  ministers 
in  the  schism,  from  their  former  connection,  to 
unite  in  a  new  body  with  seceders,  who  had  also 
irregularly  departed  from  their  former  ecclesiastical 
brethren.  Those  who  did  not  join,  turned  their  atten- 
tion again  towards  Europe,  and  called  for  ministerial 
assistance.  This  could  not  be  immediately  obtained. 
The  Reformed  Presbyteries  in  Europe  were  not 
able  to  supply  the  demand  for  ministerial  services 
at  home,  and  did  not  find  it  convenient  to  send 
any  missionaries  to  America. 

The  Church  was  in  danger  of  becoming  entirely 
extinct,  in  America,  about  four  years  after  the 
defection  took  place,  which  contributed  to  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Associate  Reformed  body.  The  people 
are  reduced  to  their   private  fellowship  meetings. 


REV.    JAMES   REID.  131 

They  did  not,  however,  despair,  even  at  their  lowest 
state.  They  expected,  and  received  help.  The 
Rev.  James  Reid  was  sent  as  a  missionary,  by  the 
Reformed  Presbytery  of  Scotland,  to  examine  the 
state  of  affairs  in  the  United  States;  and,  after 
having  travelled  from  Carolina  to  New  York,  and 
remained  several  months  in  America,  he  returned 
to  Europe  in  the  summer,  1790.  The  Presbytery 
then  determined  to  use  means  for  reorganizing  a 
Church  in  the  States  of  America.  Mr.  McGarragh 
was  ordained  by  the  Reformed  Presbytery  of  Ire- 
land for  the  Church  in  America,  and  arrived  in 
South  Carolina  about  the  year  1791.  The  Rev. 
William  King  was  commissioned  with  instructions 
to  join  Mr.  McGarragh,  and,  as  a  Committee  of  the 
Reformed  Presbytery  of  Scotland,  these  gentlemen 
were  empowered  judicially  to  manage  the  concerns 
of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  in  America,. 
Mr.  King  arrived  in  the  United  States  in  the  year 
1792.  After  having  remained  some  time  in  Penn- 
sylvania, and  visiting  New  York,  where  he  had  an 
interview  with  the  Rev.  James  McKinney,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Reformed  Presbytery  of  Ireland,  who 
emigrated  to  America  in  the  year  1793,  he  re- 
turned to  South  Carolina.  A  committee  of  Pres- 
bytery was  formed  in  the  South,  and  under  its 
care  was  taken  Mr.  Thomas  Donelly,  a  young  man 
who  had  received  in  Glasgow  a  collegiate  educa- 
tion, with  a  view  to  the  ministry  of  the  gospel. 
Mr.  King  was  settled  in  a  pastoral  charge,  and  the 


132  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

affairs  of  the  Church  began  to  wear  a  regular 
appearance  in  the  South. 

Mr.  McKinney  was  not  inactive  in  the  Northern 
States.  He  possessed  talents  admirably  adapted 
to  the  present  situation  of  the  Church.  He  pos- 
sessed an  intrepidity  of  character  which  could  not 
be  seduced  by  friendship,  or  overawed  by  opposi- 
tion. An  extensive  acquaintance  with  men  and 
with  books  furnished  his  mind  with  various  and 
useful  knowledge;  and  his  inventive  powers  never 
left  him  at  a  loss  for  arguments  to  defend  the  sys- 
tem to  which  he  w^as  piously  attached.  Capable 
of  enduring  fatigue  in  an  uncommon  degree,  active, 
inquisitive,  and  enterprising,  he  sought  out,  he  dis- 
covered, and  he  visited,  everywhere,  the  few  cove- 
nanters who  w^ere  scattered  through  the  wilderness, 
and  formed  them  into  regular  societies.  The  sub- 
limity of  his  conceptions,  the  accuracy  of  his  judg- 
ment, the  fervor  of  his  devotion,  and  the  vehe- 
mence of  his  eloquence,  qualified  him  to  rouse 
into  the  most  active  exertions,  for  the  good  of  Zion, 
those  lonely  societies,  who  had  been  so  long  unac- 
customed to  the  public  preaching  of  the  gospel. 
By  his  instrumentality,  the  Church  rapidly  increased 
in  the  States  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York. 

In  May,  1793,  he  preached  in  Princetown,  a  few 
miles  from  the  city  of  Schenectady,  for  several  Sab- 
baths, and  with  much  success.  Although  there  were 
only  two  men  in  that  place  who  had  been  Cove- 
nanters, the  number  soon  increased  to  a  congrega- 


McKINNEY    AND    McLEOD.  133 

tion.  The  people  of  Princetown  and  Duanesburgh, 
uniting  with  the  congregation  of  Galway,  petitioned 
to  the  Presbytery  of  Ireland,  praying  that  they  would 
dissolve  his  connection  with  his  present  pastoral 
charge,  and  settle  him  among  them.  In  the  year 
1797,  Mr.  McKinney  accepted  the  invitation,  and 
receiving  his  family  from  Ireland,  settled  as  the  pas- 
tor of  the  united  congregations  of  Galway  and 
Duanesburgh. 

Mr.  McLeod  was  among  the  first  fruits  of  Mr, 
McKinney's  ministry  in  Princetown.  He  had  re- 
ceived in  Scotland,  which  he  had  left  about  nine 
months  before,  the  rudiments  of  an  education  for 
the  ministry,  in  the  established  Church.  The  second 
sermon  which  Mr.  McKinney  preached  in  Prince- 
town, was  from  the  4th  verse  of  27th  Psalm,  and 
determined  Mr.  McLeod  to  embrace  the  principles 
of  the  covenanted  reformation.  He  also  determined 
to  pursue  his  studies,  in  order  to  qualify  himself  for 
the  ministry  in  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church. 
He  obtained  his  collegiate  education  in  Union  Col- 
lege, Schenectady. 

The  troubles  which  prevailed  in  Ireland,  during 
the  insurrection  of  those  who  were  united  for  the 
purpose  of  throwing  off  the  British  yoke,  proved 
advantageous  to  the  Church  in  America.  In  that 
country  the  Reformed  Presbyterians  were  placed 
in  a  very  critical  situation.  They  had,  for  a  long 
time,  stood  alone  the  advocates  of  civil  liberty,  and 
of  the  independency  of  the  Church  of  the  crown. 


134  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

The  insurgents  considered  them  as  the  enemies  of 
the  present  constitution  of  government,  and  the 
royalists  viewed  them  in  the  same  light.  They 
were  courted  by  the  former  and  suspected  by  the 
latter.  The  principles  of  the  united  Irishmen  were, 
however,  very  different  from  those  of  Presbyterian 
covenanters,  and  consequently  they  could  not  con- 
sistently make  a  common  cause  with  them,  although 
they  sincerely  desired  the  abolition  of  the  prehxcy, 
and  the  overthrow  of  the  Erastian  system,  which 
despotism  had  established  in  Ireland ;  they  had 
not  much  cause  to  commit  w^ith  confidence  their 
civil  and  religious  privileges  to  the  protection  of  the 
great  body  of  the  people  of  Ireland,  acting  under 
French  influence  in  case  of  a  revolution. 

The  expected  revolution  offered,  at  best,  but  a 
gloomy  prospect  to  the  witnesses  against  the  man 
of  sin.  Three  millions  of  Eoman  Catholics,  in  op- 
position to  less  than  half  a  million  of  true  Presby- 
terians, could  not  be  supposed  to  erect  a  system  of 
government  which  would  prove  favorable  to  the 
interests  of  Presbyterian  covenanters.  They  could 
not,  therefore,  co-operate  with  freedom,  in  elevating 
into  power  these  votaries  of  Antichrist. 

The  torrent  of  popular  opinion,  however,  flows 
with  too  much  rapidity  to  admit  of  deliberate  rea- 
soning. Some  of  the  witnesses  of  the  covenanted 
reformation  were  hurried  away,  by  this  torrent,  from 
their  former  landmarks,  before  they  had  time  to 
consider  the  consequences.     They  w^ere  all  known 


BLACK    AND  WYLIE.  135 

to  be  the  determined  foes  of  that  monstrous  system, 
in  which  the  monarchy  and  the  prelacy  were  com- 
bined. The  tools  of  oppression  might,  therefore, 
at  any  time,  mark  any  of  them  as  their  prey ;  and 
while  martial  law  or  arbitrary  power  prevailed, 
every  one  was  in  danger.  These  troubles  brought 
an  accession  of  strength,  from  distracted  Ireland, 
to  the  American  Church.  The  Rev.  William  Gib- 
son was  among  the  emigrants.  He  arrived  in  this 
country  in  the  year  1797.  He  was  accompanied  by 
Messrs.  Black  and  Wylie,  who  had  completed  a 
collegiate  education  in  the  university  of  Glasgow, 
and  were  now  preparing  for  the  work  of  the  minis- 
tr}^  The  arrival  of  these  gentlemen  encouraged 
the  Churches  now  suffering  for  the  want  of  a 
preached  gospel,  and  confirmed  to  Mr.  McKinney 
the  propriety  of  adopting  a  plan  whereby  a  more 
complete  organization  should  be  given  to  the 
Church  than  that  which  now  existed.  He  consid- 
ered it  more  advantageous  to  the  interest  of  the 
reformation  in  the  United  States,  that  its  affairs  be 
conducted  by  a  presbyterial  judicatory,  subsisting 
in  a  connection  with  its  sister  presbyteries  in  Scot- 
land and  Ireland,  than  that  they  should  retain  the 
form  of  a  committee  subordinate  to  one  of  the 
European  courts.  He  always  disapproved  of  the 
method  of  performing  judicial  transactions  by  a 
committee,  at  so  great  a  distance  from  the  parent 
judicatory.  When  he  visited  Carolina,  although 
he  acted  as  a  corresponding  member  of  the  com- 


136  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

mittee  of  presbytery,  he  would  not  be  considered 
as  fully  approving  that  organization.  He  was  there, 
however,  informed  that  it  was  never  intended  by 
the  presbytery  in  Scotland,  that  the  committee 
should  continue  in  its  present  state  any  longer  than 
conveniency  required.  It  was  no  more  than  a 
temporary  expediency.  All  were  sensible  that  a 
Presbyterian  organization  should  be  speedily  giv- 
en to  the  Church.  After  consultation  with  Mr. 
Gibson  and  the  elders  of  the  Church  in  Philadel- 
phia, it  was  resolved  to  organize  a  Presbytery. 
This  resolution  was  adopted,  and  carried  into  exe- 
cution. 

The  committee  of  the  Scottish  Presbytery  which 
acted  in  Carolina,  was  now  providentially  dissolved. 
Mr.  King,  standing  alone,  was  invited  to  a  confer- 
ence at  Alexandria  with  the  northern  ministers. 
They,  seeing  the  intrinsic  propriety  of  the  measure, 
the  dissolution  of  the  committee,  four  young  men 
as  candidates  for  the  ministry  under  their  care, 
and  seeing  the  Church  requiring  a  speedy  admin- 
istration of  discipline,  did  constitute  the  Reformed 
Presbytery  of  the  United  States  of  North  America, 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  spring  of  the 
year  1798. 

Mr.  King  did  not  live  to  meet  his  brethren  in  a 
Presbyterial  capacity.  He  departed  this  life  be- 
fore the  time  appointed  for  the  meeting.  The 
Presbytery,  however,  increased  in  number.  Messrs. 
Donelly,  Black,  Wylie,  and  McLeod  were  licensed 


REFORMED  PRESBYTERY,  1798.         137 

to  preach  the  gospel  by  the  Reformed  Presbytery, 
met  at  Coldenham,  in  June,  1799.  The  Church 
was  in  a  very  scattered  condition  when  these  young 
men  entered  upon  her  pubhc  service.  Covenanters 
were  thinly  dispersed  through  the  vast  extent  of 
the  American  empire,  like  ancient  Israel,  as  dew 
among  the  nations.  The  preachers  had  to  encounter 
toil  and  danger.  Their  elder  brethren  had,  how- 
ever, set  them  an  example  of  sacrificing,  without 
reluctance,  bodily  ease  to  the  welfare  of  Zion,  and 
this  example  they  felt  it  their  duty  to  follow.  It 
was  esteemed  a  lig;ht  thino;  for  each  of  them  to 
travel  upwards  of  a  thousand  miles  in  one  season. 
Some  of  them  have  in  less  than  a  year  performed 
journeys  of  upwards  of  two  thousand  miles  in 
extent.  They  had  the  happiness,  however,  of 
seeing  the  saints  refreshed,  sinners  turned  unto  the 
Lord,  and  the  visible  Church  putting  on  gradually 
the  appearance  of  a  regular  organization. 

In  the  course  of  two  years  they  were  all  ordained 
to  the  ministry,  and  had  fixed  pastoral  charges 
committed  to  them.  This  measure  increased  rather 
than  diminished  their  toils.  To  the  care  of  the 
numerous  vacancies  which  they  were  still  bound  to 
visit  and  supply  wdth  public  ordinances,  was  added 
the  care  of  a  special  charge,  of  which  each  had 
taken  the  oversight. 

The  Presbytery  turned  their  attention  to  their 
fathers  and  brethren  in  the  British  empire  for 
assistance.     The  Eev.  Samuel  B.  Wylie  was  com- 


138  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

missioned  to  the  Presbyteries  of  Scotland  and 
Ireland,  in  the  year  1802,  and  sailed  for  Europe. 
He  was  instructed  to  inform  these  judicatories  of 
the  constitution  of  the  Reformed  Presbytery  in 
America  —  to  consult  with  them  about  some  plan 
expedient  to  preserve  an  intimacy  and  unity  among 
the  sister  Churches,  until  they  could  be  united 
under  one  common  judicatory — and  to  request 
ministerial  assistance  for  the  American  Churches. 
Mr.  Wylie  returned  in  October,  1803. 

The  constitution  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States,  was  fully  recognized 
by  the  ecclesiastical  judicatories  of  the  same 
Church  in  Scotland  and  in  Ireland  ;  a  friendly  cor- 
respondence was  established  between  the  three 
Presbyteries,  and  some  encouragement  afforded  of 
receiving  ministerial  help  at  a  future  period.  This 
help  was  now  become  more  necessary.  Mr.  McKin- 
ney  was  removed  from  the  State  of  New  York, 
having  accepted  a  call  from  a  congregation  in  Caro- 
lina;  and  he  there  ended  his  life  in  August,  1803. 

The  members  of  the  Reformed  Presbytery  are 
widely  scattered  over  this  extensive  empire.  For 
the  more  convenient  exercise  of  ecclesiastical 
authority  in  the  Churches  under  their  care,  it  was 
necessary  to  separate  themselves  into  distinct  com- 
mittees, authorized  to  exercise  Church  power  within 
specified  limits.  The  northern  committee  has  re- 
ceived ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  over  their  Churches 
situated  between  the  northern  boundary  of  Pensyl- 


TESTIMONY    EXHIBITED.  139 

vania  and  the  line  which  separates  the  United 
States  from  the  British  dominions  in  North  America. 
The  middle  committee  is  empowered  to  regulate 
the  ecclesiastical  concerns  of  the  Churches  between 
the  Pennsylvanian  line  and  the  northern  boundary 
of  North  Carolina.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  southern 
committee  ejitends  from  the  Carolina  line  to  the 
southern  limits  of  the  United  States.  This  arrange- 
ment rendered  the  exercise  of  discipline  more  con- 
venient, and  it  prepared  the  way  for  the  erection 
of  distinct  Presbyteries  under  the  inspection  of  one 
synod,  as  soon  as  an  increase  of  ministers  should 
render  such  an  organization  eligible.  The  acts  of 
these  committees  are,  in  the  mean  time,  subject  to 
the  review  of  the  Presbytery  at  its  yearly  meetings. 
The  southern  committee  was  very  soon  dissolved, 
by  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  McKinney.  Mr. 
Donelly  is  now  the  only  minister  belonging  to 
the  Reformed  Presbytery  who  resides  within  these 
limits.  Whatever  business  occurs,  w^hich  the  ses- 
sion is  incompetent  to  settle,  is  referred  immediately 
to  the  Presbytery.  The  middle  committee  consists 
of  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Wylie  and  Black,  and  the  ruling 
elders  who  act  with  them  in  judicature.  Mr.  Wylie 
is  pastor  of  the  Church  in  Philadelphia,  and  Mr. 
Black  of  the  Church  in  Pittsburgh  and  its  vicinity. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Gibson,  pastor  of  the  Church  in  Rye- 
gate,  Vermont,  and  Mr.  McLeod,  of  the  Church  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  constitute,  with  ruling  elders, 
the  northern   committee.     Several    candidates   for 


140  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

the  ministry  are,  however,  before  the  Church. 
Double  their  present  number  of  ministers  would 
not  be  sufficient  to  furnish  their  Churches  with  a 
reo-ular  and  constant  administration  of  ordinances. 

Nevertheless,  as  an  ecclesiastical  judicatory, 
exercising  authority  in  the  name  of  Christ,  the  head 
of  the  Church,  they  deem  it  their  duty  to  bind  up 
the  testimony,  and  seal  the  law  among  his  disciples. 
After  mature  deliberation,  the  Presbytery  resolved 
to  exhibit  their  sentiments  to  the  world  in  the  most 
simple  form.  They  were  unanimous  in  opinion, 
that  the  Church  should  be  one  in  every  nation 
under  heaven,  and  that  the  subordinate  ecclesiastical 
standards  should  also  be  one.  They  were  certain 
this  could  not  be  the  case  if  anything  local  or  pe- 
culiar to  any  one  part  of  the  world  were  admitted 
into  these  standards.  Such  an  admission  would 
necessarily  prevent  the  unity  of  the  Church.  Truth 
is  not  local.  Abstract  principle  is  universally  the 
same  in  every  part  of  the  world.  The  particular 
application  of  this  one  system,  however,  should  be 
left  to  each  part  of  the  Church,  and  should  be  reg- 
ulated by  local  circumstances.  This  application 
should  be  plain,  pointed,  and  argumentative,  adapted 
to  convince,  to  persuade,  and  to  confirm.  The 
Presbytery  expected  that  a  period  would  come  in 
which  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  would  be 
found  in  the  different  nations  of  Europe,  Asia, 
Africa,  and  America.  It  was  their  intention,  in 
exhibiting  a  testimony  for  truth,  and  against  error, 


WORK    OF    IMPORTANCE.  141 

to  render  it  such  as  might  be  acceptable  to  Re- 
formed Presbyterians  in  Italy  and  in  Egypt,  in 
India  and  in  Tartary,  as  well  as  in  Great  Britain, 
or  in  the  United  States  of  America.  They  ordered 
a  member  of  Presbytery  to  prepare  a  draught  of 
such  a  system.  They  appointed  a  committee  to 
examine  it.  By  order  of  committee,  copies  of  it 
were  transmitted  to  the  two  sister  Presbyteries  in 
the  British  empire,  and  to  each  minister  and  Church 
session  belonging  to  the  Church  in  America.  Those 
who  received  copies  were,  at  the  same  time, 
requested  to  return  them  to  the  Presbytery,  ac- 
companied with  such  additions,  alterations,  and 
amendments,  as  they  might  deem  it  expedient  to 
propose. 

The  Presbytery,  while  they  were  endeavoring  to 
provide  for  such  a  testimony  as  would  be  universally 
applicable,  were  equally  anxious  to  provide  for  a 
particular  application  of  their  principles.  The 
members  had  several  parts  of  this  extensive  work 
assigned  them.  They  were  severally  appointed  to 
examine  the  systems  of  other  Churches,  and  the 
constituted  civil  authorities  and  laws,  and  to  prepare 
particular  testimonies  applying  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  the  ecclesiastical  standards  against  the 
evils  and  errors  of  these  systems,  in  a  full  and  ex- 
plicit manner.  The  Presbytery  wished  to  go 
thoroughly  into  this  business.  They  felt  that  it  was 
a  work  of  time,  of  labor  and  of  importance.  They 
chose  rather  to  disappoint  the  earnest  and  honest 


142  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

expectations  and  wishes  of  their  people,  than  injure 
the  declaration  and  testimony  which  they  were 
about  to  make,  in  exhibition  of  their  principles  as 
a  Church,  by  intermingling  with  it  a  review  of  other 
Churches,  which  must  necessarily  have  been  so 
short  as  to  be  feeble  and  unsatisfactory. 

The  Reformed  Presbytery  met  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  agreeably  to  appointment,  upon  the  first 
Tuesday  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1806  ; 
but  in  consequence  of  the  absence  of  several  mem- 
bers, they  adjourned  until  Wednesday  evening, 
without  proceeding  to  business.  They  continued  in 
session  for  ten  days.  During  this  period  they  con- 
sidered the  Draught  of  a  Testimony^  which  had  been 
previously  prepared.  The  Reformed  Presbj^tery 
of  Scotland  had  kindly  favored  them  with  their 
remarks  upon  that  Draught,  and  a  variety  of  ani- 
madversions from  the  different  parts  of  the  Church 
in  America  were  also  submitted  to  their  consider- 
ation. Such  additions  and  alterations  were  made 
as  appeared  proper  to  the  Presbytery  ;  and  with 
these,  the  Draught  was  unanimously  adopted  as  the 
Tesiimony  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  and  committed  to  a 
committee  for  publication  with  all  convenient  speed. 

In  the  conclusion  of  this  chapter  in  the  history 
of  the  Church  in  America,  we  have  abundant  reason 
to  notice  the  great  and  unmerited  kindness  of 
Almighty  God.  We  owe  it  as  a  testimony  to  his 
goodness,  to  say  that  he  hath  done  great  things  for 


MARTYRDOM.  143 

US.  At  the  time  that  the  first  edition  of  this  testi- 
mony was  presented  to  the  world,  scarcely  eighteen 
years  ago,  the  Reformed  Church  had  but  five  or- 
dained ministers  in  her  whole  connection  in  the 
United  States.  Now,  on  the  publishing  of  a  second 
edition,  through  the  Divine  blessing,  she  has  no  less 
than  twenty-four,  and  an  increasing  demand  for 
ministerial  laborers.*  Congregations  are  springing 
up  in  the  desert,  and  the  wilderness  is  becoming  a 
fruitful  field.  Lei  us  fear  the  Lord,  and  serve  km  in 
truth  xmtli  all  our  heart,  and  consider  hoiv  great  things  he 
hath  done  for  us. 

Slavery,  the  principal  practical  evil  in  America, 
had  long  since  been  removed  from  the  Church. 

In  the  year  1800,  Mr.  McLeod  had  received  a 
call  to  the  congregation  of  Wallkill,  and  among  the 
subscribers  there  were  holders  of  slaves.  He  urged 
this  fact  as  a  motive  for  rejecting  the  call.  The 
Presbytery,  now  having  the  subject  regularly  before 
them,  resolved  to  purge  the  Church  of  this  dreadful 
evil.  They  enacted  that  no  slaveholder  should  be 
retained  in  their  communion.  This  measure  was 
greatly  facilitated  by  the  spirited  and  faithful  exer- 
tions of  the  Rev.  Messrs.  James  McKinney  and 
Samuel  B.  Wylie,  who  had  been  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  visit  the  Southern  States,  and  regulate 
the  concerns  of  the  Church  in  that  part  of  America. 
These  gentlemen  set  out  upon  their  mission  in  the 

*  There  are  now,  in  1852,  fifty  ordained  ministers  in  connection  with 
General  Synod. 


144  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

month  of  November,  1800.  They  travelled  through 
Pennsylvania,  and  from  Pittsburgh  sailed  down  the 
Ohio  to  Kentucky.  They  rode  from  thence  to 
South  Carolina,  and  having  settled  the  affairs  of 
the  Church,  and  abolished  the  practice  of  holding 
slaves  amono;  Church  members  in  the  South,  thev 
returned  in  the  spring  to  the  State  of  New  York. 
The  Presbytery  approved  of  the  services  of  their 
committee,  and  required  of  their  connections  a  gen- 
eral emancipation.  No  slaveholder  is  since  admitted 
to  their  communion. 

Thus  have  the  Presbytery  endeavored  to  settle 
the  doctrine  and  the  practice  of  the  Church. 

They  have  given  a  summary  view  of  the  TRUTHS 
which  the  martyrs  have  been  sealing  with  their 
blood,  from  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  dispen- 
sation until  the  present  day.  It  has  been  their 
endeavor  to  reject  nothing  for  which  their  pred- 
ecessors have  faithfully  contended,  and  to  embrace 
nothing  but  what  is  agreeable  to  the  supreme  stan- 
dard of  judgment  —  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

They  sincerely  lament  that  the  principles  of  their 
Testimony  should  prove  so  opposite  to  the  practice 
of  many  churches,  containing  many  of  the  saints  of 
God  ;  but  they  had  no  alternative ;  they  must  act 
thus,  or  renounce  their  faithfulness.  They  cheer- 
fully appreciate  the  talents  and  piety  of  their 
acquaintances,  and,  as  opportunity  may  offer,  com- 
mune with  them  as  friends  and  as  Christians ;  but 
they  cannot  extend  to  any  one  the  right  hand  of 


MARTYKDOM.  145 

fellowship  in  the  visible  Church  upon  any  other 
principles  than  those  contained  in  their  Declaration 
and  Testimony,  nor  can  they  consistently  join, 
ecclesiastically,  in  the  communion  of  other  Churches, 
while  they  continue  opposed  to  these  declared 
sentiments. 

They  are  fully  sensible  in  thus  binding  up  the, 
Testimony^  that  the  present  generation  will  consider 
their  zeal  as  extravagant.  Of  those  who  garnish 
the  tombs  of  the  martyrs,  some  may  pity,  and  oth- 
ers reproach  their  honest  exertions,  to  follow  the 
steps  which  the  martyrs  have  marked  with  their 
own   blood. 

They  commit  their  character  to  the  mercy  of 
the  all-seeing  God,  who  knows  their  motives,  and 
to  the  impartial  judgment  of  the  Church  at  that 
period,  when  "  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under 
the  whole  heaven  shall  be  given  to  the  people 
of  the  Saints  of  the  Most  High."  Arise,  0  God  I 
Plead  thine  oivn  Cause !  0,  let  not  the  oppressed  re- 
turn ashamed :  let  the  poor  and  needy  praise  thy  name ! 
Blessed  be  the  Lord  God :  the  God  of  Israel,  who  only 
doeth  wondrous  things :  and  let  the  luJiole  earth  be  filled 
with  his  Glory !  AMEN  and  AMEN. 
10 


146  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

CHAPTER   ly. 

FROM  THE  RATIFICATION   OF  THE   TESTIMONY  UNTIL 
MAY,  1852. 

In  the  previous  pages  of  this  "  Historical  Review  " 
we  have  had  a  recognition,  with  sufficient  distinct- 
ness, of  the  great  truth  of  the  unity  of  the  Church 
of  God.  In  all  ages  this  divine  corporation  has 
been  really  one.  Amidst  the  confusion  attendant 
upon  partial  schisms  and  disorderly  defections,  this 
important  fact  is  in  danger  of  being  overlooked,  if 
not  of  being  altogether  forgotten.  The  eye  of 
faction  is  neither  fitted  nor  disposed  to  survey  a 
field  of  vision  more  extensive  than  that  which  is 
bounded  by  the  narrow  limits  of  the  party  to  which 
it  belongs.  It  is,  however,  characteristic  of  the  true 
Church  to  have  a  Past,  with  which  the  Present  is 
in  intimate  connection ;  while  with  a  deeply  in- 
teresting Future  both  the  Past  and  the  Present  are 
in  important  relationship.  By  the  more  enlight- 
ened, spiritually-minded,  and  generous-hearted  chil- 
dren of  Zion,  a  feeling  of  the  peculiar  value  of 
these  relations  has  always  been  cherished ;  a  feeling 
which,  in  the  good  providence  of  God,  has  con- 
tributed its  full  share  in  giving  steadfastness  to 
their  hallowed  profession.  Such  will  continue  to 
be  the  case,  until  regardless  and  weary  of  the  past, 
and  not  duly  mindful  of,  nor  vvisely  provident  for, 
the   future,  a  preference    shall    be  given    to   that 


TESTIMONY    RATIFIED.  147 

which  is  of  yesterday,  and  which  is  not  destined  to 
be  recognized  in  a  distant  and  better  age. 

To  these  considerations,  the  framers  of  the  sub- 
ordinate standards  of  our  Church,  both  of  an  ear- 
her  and  later  period,  were  not  inattentive.  These 
standards  embrace  the  unaltered  Confession  of 
Faith,  the  Catechisms,  and  general  frame  of  Church 
government  —  the  compositions  of  the  venerable 
Westminster  Assembly  of  the  seventeenth  century  ; 
with  which,  in  1806,  were  connected  the  volumes 
known  under  the  title  of  '^  Reformation  Principles 
exhibited."  These  contain  the  material  of  the 
Church's  religious  profession,  and  present  together 
the  form  of  her  stated  Testimony  in  favor  of  her 
Redeemer's  cause. 

An  attentive  consideration  of  these  documents, 
in  connection  with  their  historical  relations,  will 
furnish  an  answer  to  the  inquiries  not  unfrequently 
made :  Why  was  there  a  distinct  Reformed  Presby- 
terian organization  ever  made  in  America  ?  And, 
Why  is  it  continued  ?  An  answer  to  these  in- 
quiries, at  the  hazard  of  some  repetition,  will  of 
necessity  call  up  to  view  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
cause,  which  will  be  found  very  far  from  a  mere 
name.  It  embraces  the  whole  system  of  Evangeli- 
cal religion  and  moral  law,  with  the  sacred  institutes 
by  which  that  system  has  its  development.  It 
demands  a  full  recognition  of  God's  claims,  under 
the  headship  of  Immanuel,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
upon  man  —  the  whole  of  man  —  in  every  relation 


148  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

and  pursuit  of  life,  where  the  Bible  revelation  is 
possessed  or  made  known.  It  solemnly  prohibits 
the  giving  of  any  pledge  of  approbation  or  support 
to  immorality,  or  to  any  principle  of  immorality. 
It  affirms,  that  into  no  relation  can  the  subject 
of  God's  moral  government  consistently  or  safely 
enter,  whose  constitution  is  in  hostility  against  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  and  whose  tendency,  in  its  con- 
stitution and  constitutional  administration,  is  not  to 
promote  the  interests  of  knowledge,  righteousness, 
and  rational  liberty.  In  her  actual  administrations, 
this  Church  holds  herself  obliged,  in  solemn  cove- 
nant with  God,  by  all  moral  means  of  which  she  is 
possessed,  to  bring  the  principles  of  her  profession 
to  bear  upon  the  advancement  of  this  cause. 

The  great  declension  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  British  Isles,  before  any  organization  of  the 
people  of  that  Church  was  found  in  America,  is 
matter  of  history.  The  elevated  moral  position  of 
that  Church,  —  though  not  complete,  being  only 
in  progress  towards  a  higher  point,  —  in  what  is 
denominated  the  period  of  the  second  Reformation, 
is  not  unknown.  Nor  are  we  ignorant  of  her  de- 
scent from  that  high  position  on  which  she  stood 
when  she,  by  solemn. covenant,  avouched  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  as  the  only  head  of  his  own  Church,  and 
of  all  things  for  the  Church's  sake,  and  which  she 
left  to  take  her  stand  under  an  Erastian  monarchy, 
which  profanely  claimed,  within  its  dominions,  a 
headship    beside  —  and    in    opposition    to    that  of 


WESTMINSTER    STANDARDS.  149 

Christ,  over  the  Church,  and  over  all  things  apper- 
taining to  her.  The  settlement  of  the  political 
establishment  of  the  British  throne  in  the  house  of 
Nassau,  and  again  in  that  of  Hanover,  was  like  that 
under  the  famihes  of  Tudor  and  of  Stuart —  a  gross 
usurpation  of  dominion  over  the  Church,  and  an 
invasion  of  the  sovereign  rights  of  the  Son  of  God. 
By  what  is  usually  known  as  the  Revolution  Settle- 
ment, under  William  IIL,  and  Mary  his  wife,  the 
Church  was  made  a  piece  and  parcel  of  the  political 
state.  The  monarch,  a  secular  power,  was  made 
head  of  the  spiritual  body,  the  Church.  This  was 
made  essential  to  the  constitution  and  existence  of 
the  government,  and  to  this  the  approvers  of  that 
settlement  gave  their  pledge.  But  a  conscientious 
pledge  to  sustain  such  an  establishment,  the  con- 
sistent and  faithful  Presbyterians  could  not  give. 
To  separate  the  political  from  the  ecclesiastical  part 
was  impossible.  The  system  was  a  unit,  to  the 
existence  of  which  Erastianism  was  essentiah  The 
members  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  revolution 
Church,  however,  were  prepared  to  bow  the  neck 
to  the  yoke  of  an  Erastian  usurpation.  Time  had 
carried  away  the  majority  of  the  high-spirited  jure 
divino  Presbj-terians.  A  twenty-eight  years'  perse- 
cution had  broken  the  spirit  of  a  less  magnanimous, 
though  well-disposed  class.  Then  came  the  ma- 
jority of  the  temporizers  under  the  two  previous 
reigns,  and  to  them  were  added  the  hundreds  of 
prelatic  curates,  who  were  the  sworn  advocates  of 


150  HISTOKICAL   VIEW. 

all  the  tyranny  and  oppression  to  which  the  friends 
of  the  Reformation  had  been  subjected,  and  many 
of  whom,  in  the  previous  persecutions,  were  intru- 
ders into  the  pulpits  of  the  exiled  Presbyterian 
ministry.  These  intruders,  —  the  spies  and  the  in- 
formers of  a  former  mercilesss  government,  —  their 
hands  yet  stained  by  the  blood  of  martyrs,  with 
their  ruling  elders,  were  recognized  members  of 
the  revolution  Church  of  Scotland  ;  and  such  were 
the  constituent  members  of  this  general  assembly 
of  that  Church.  A  few  good  men,  just  returned 
from  their  exile,  and  a  portion  of  those  who  had 
remained  amidst  sufferings  at  home,  cherishing  the 
vain  hope  of  giving,  through  their  agency  and  in- 
fluence, a  higher  character  to  this  establishment, 
went  into  its  communion.  But  the  controlling 
power  was  in  the  hands  of  a  majority  who  had  sold 
themselves  to  the  invader  of  the  Church's  rights 
and  the  usurper  of  Messiah's  throne.  The  strug- 
gles of  a  well-meaning  minority  in  favor  of  the 
right,  were  overruled  by  a  faithless  majority ;  and 
the  results  were  a  progress  of  error  in  doctrine,  a 
spirit  of  yielding  to  Erastian  assumption,  and  a 
relaxation  in  morals  and  evangelical  discipline, 
accompanied  by  a  fierce  exercise  of  ecclesiastical 
power  against  those  who  attempted  a  stand  in  be- 
half of  the  Church's  rights. 

A  "  high  spirited "  and  faithful  minority  still 
stood  aloof  from  the  whole  establishment.  Into  the 
fellowship  of  a  Church  so  constituted,  and  threat- 


FAITHFUL   MINORITY.  151 

ening  such  results,  they  could  not  enter ;  and  to  a 
crown  that  held  a  usurped  .power,  beside  and  in 
hostility  to  the  authority  of  Christ,  and  which,  by 
its  constitution,  was  impelled  to  put  forth  such  a 
corrupting  influence  over  and  in  the  Church,  they 
could  yield  no  pledge  of  allegiance.  Upon  their 
consciences,  they  felt  the  obligations  of  their  Re- 
deemer's claims,  and  in  their  ears  was  still  sounding 
the  warning  voice  of  the  martyr's  blood,  admonish- 
ing them  of  the  danger  of  an  unworthy  compromise 
of  the  consecrated  principles  of  their  profession. 
God's  word,  their  solemn  covenant  bonds,  and 
twenty-eight  years  of  ruthless  persecution,  had 
taught  them  the  religious  value  of  the  Church's 
independence  of  secular  power. 

Thus,  in  the  British  empire,  Presbyterians  were 
found  in  two  parties,  whose  lines  of  demarcation 
were  distinctly  drawn.  From  each  of  these  parties 
there  were  emigrations  to  the  American  Provinces. 
But  over  these  Provinces,  the  Erastian  constitution 
of  England  was  likew^ise  supreme.  The  revolution 
Church  of  Scotland,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Prelacy 
of  England  and  Ireland,  had,  in  the  colonies,  the 
representatives  of  her  constitutional  principles.  It 
was  felt  by  the  consistent  friends  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, that  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  had  neither 
sanctified  the  Erastianism  of  the  British  establish- 
ment, nor,  as  to  themselves,  disannulled  the  au- 
thority of  Messiah's  claims ;  and  whether  in  the 
mother  country  or  in  the  Western  colonies,  to  the 


152  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

fellowship  of  those  establishments  there  was  no  ad- 
mission for  the  uncompromising  friends  of  the  Ref- 
ormation cause.  To  enjoy  fellowship  with  majority, 
an  abandonment  of  some  of  the  most  fundamental 
principles  of  that  cause  w^as  the  price  that  must 
have  been  paid  by  the  more  faithful  Presbyterians. 
To  them  it  was  painful  to  witness,  in  the  act  par- 
tially adopting  their  confession  of  their  Faith,  that 
the  American  Presbyterians  qualified  that  deed  with 
the  avowal,  that  in  their  creed  there  was  nothing 
to  be  understood  as  hostile  to  the  Erastian  settle- 
ment of  the  English  throne.'^'  And  this  while  that 
confession  is  distinguished  by  the  following  affirma- 
tions :  "  There  is  no  other  head  of  the  Church  but 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  And  again :  "  The  Lord 
Jesus,  as  king  and  head  of  his  Church,  hath  therein 
appointed  a  government,  in  the  hand  of  Church 
officers,  distinct  from  the  civil  magistrate."  "  The 
civil  magistrate  may  not  assume  to  himself  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  word  and  sacraments,  or  the 
power  of  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven." -j* 
The  above  stated  avowal  was  understood  as  an 
unworthy  crouching  to  usurpation,  and  a  cowardly 
yielding  of  the  Church's  faith  to  the  claims  of  an 
immoral  and  impious  power.  And  instead  of  a  full 
and  faithful  assertion  of  their  rights,  in  a  style  be- 
coming Christian  freemen,  generally  they  sought 
nothing  beyond  what  was  doled  out  to  them  by  the 

*  See  index  for  authorities. 

t  See  Confession  of  Faith,  chaps,  xxiii.,  xxv.,  xxx.,  xxxi. 


CIVIL    MAGISTRATE.  153 

toleration  act,  shackled  as  that  toleration  was  by 
slavish  and  ensnaring  oaths;  and  proceeding  from 
an  assumed  authority  to  establish,  persecute,  or  tol- 
erate religion  at  pleasure ;  this  tame  yielding,  ac- 
companied, on  the  part  of  some,  by  the  boast  that 
in  public  ministrations  so  much  as  a  minute  had 
not  been  employed  "  in  reasoning  against  the  pe- 
culiarities of  the  established  [the  prelatic]  Church, 
nor  so  much  as  assio:nino;  the  reasons  of  non-con- 
formity."  And  when  the  sentiments  of  the  old 
"high  principled  "  advocates  of  the  exclusive  head- 
ship of  Christ,  who  refused  the  pledge  of  fealty  to 
the  Erastian  usurpation,  which  had  corrupted  and 
still  continued  to  corrupt  and  oppress  the  Church, 
came  before  those  accommodating  men,  their  ab- 
horrence of  those  "  high  principles  "  was  expressed 
in  no  very  measured  terms ;  and  of  the  uncom- 
promising friends  of  Christ's  crown,  and  of  his  peo- 
ple's rights  and  liberties,  they  spoke  with  "  harsh- 
ness "  and  "  acrimony." 

This  course  was  in  correspondence  with  the  con- 
stitution, principles,  and  policy  of  the  revolution 
Church  of  Scotland,  with  which,  in  principle  and 
discipline,  the  American  branch  desired  to  be  con- 
sidered as  identified.  To  the  constitution  of  that 
mother  Church  a  reference  has  been  already  made ; 
and  what  she  was  in  actual  character,  as  developed 
at  the  time  when  this  American  branch  claimed 
with  her  a  near  and  tender  relation,  it  may,  in  this 
connection,  be  proper  to  learn  from  her  own  histo- 


154  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

rian.  By  her  leading  men,  who  guided  her  meas- 
ures and  gave  character  to  herself,  such  as  it  was,  — 
"  Unpreshi/teriany  imscriptural,  imchristian  principles  were 
promulgated,  —  lauded  and  followed,  and  regarded 
as  the  very  standards  of  their  policy."  "  They  did 
not  scruple  to  subject  every  spiritual  consideration 
to  the  arbitrary  rules  of  secular  policy."  The  prin- 
ciple of  this  Church's  action,  had  it  been  followed 
to  its  legitimate  conclusion,  would  have  landed,  says 
her  historian,  in  "  the  hideous  doctrine  of  entire 
slavish  obedience  to  tyranny  in  the  State,  and  po- 
pery in  the  Church  —  that  is  —  to  absolute  despo- 
tism, civil  and  religious."  The  practical  illustration 
of  all  this  is  found  in  such  cases  as  those  of  the 
fierce,  unjust,  and  cruel  acts  of  discipline  towards 
the  McMillans,  the  Erskines,  the  Fishers,  and  Gil- 
lespies,  the  best  men  of  the  Church,  of  the  coun- 
try, and  of  the  age.  This  w^as  the  Church  which 
the  American  department,  claiming  the  relation  of 
her  ^^  young  daughter,"  affectionately  addressed  as 
a  ''  tender  parent,"  professing  to  be  "  united  with 
her  in  the  same  faith,  order,  and  discipline."  And 
against  the  Erastian  establishment  which  corrupted 
the  Church  and  oppressed  the  people,  we  find  no 
voice  of  a  manly,  godlike,  and  faithful  testimony  ; 
nor  with  that  "  tender  parent,"  —  the  corrupted  rev- 
olution Churchy  —  do  w^e  hear  any  pleadings  of  this 
affectionate  daughter,  because  of  her  wayward 
course.  Their  uniform  profession  was  that  of  affec- 
tionate fealty  to  both  the  corrupting  government 
and  the  corrupted  Church. 


ERASTIANISM.  155 

It  is  true,  however,  that  those  good  men,  —  for 
good  but  bewildered  men  they  generally  were,  — 
complained  of  the  fenal  sufferings  to  which,  not- 
withstanding their  yielding  spirit  and  loyal  sub- 
mission, they  were  subjected,  because  they  were 
not  prepared  to  go  the  whole  length  of  the  requi- 
sitions of  the  Erastian  establishment.  But  their 
complaints  were  limited,  chiefly,  if  not  entirely,  to 
the  penal  ills  which  they  suffered  without  duly 
regarding  the  constitutional  source  of  those  ills. 
The  root  was  cherished  while  complaint  was  made 
of  the  bitter  fruits.  This  spirit  of  a  prudent  con- 
servatism was,  ecclesiastically,  continued  till  the 
revolution  rendered  it  no  longer  useful.  Even  while, 
by  the  order  of  George  III.,  the  American  soil  was 
drenched  with  patriot  blood,  upon  the  ground  of 
jjrinciple,  duti/,  esteem,  and  reverence,  allegiance  to  the 
throne  and  the  king  was  urged.  From  this  unwor- 
thy profession  of  allegiance  to  the  principles  of  that 
government,  there  was  one  recorded  dissent ;  in  that 
instance  the  honorable  representative  of  Presbyte- 
rianism,^  and  of  the  great  body  of  the  Presbyterian 
people  in  their  private  capacity. 

To  a  Church  and  State  thus  constituted,  thus- 
related,  and  thus  administered,  Eeformed  Presbyte- 
rians could  make  no  professions  of  adherence  or 
allegiance.  Their  refusal  to  do  so  exposed  them  to 
sufferings,  and  subjected  them  to  the  arrogance  of 
numbers  and  of  power.     From  the  ordinary  infirm- 

*  Rev.  Mr.  Halsey. 


156  .  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

ities  of  frail  humanity  they  put  in  no  claim  to 
exemption  ;  nor  of  all  that  they  may  have  said  and 
done  is  approval  given.  But  to  the  principles  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  the  principles  of  the 
Church's  spiritual  independence  of  all  secular  pow- 
er, and  to  that  vital  truth  of  such  extensive  practi- 
cal bearing,  —  the  alone  universal  headship  of  the 
Christ  of  God, —  their  adherence,  as  at  other  histor- 
ical periods  of  deep  interest,  was  unshrinking.  For 
the  principles  and  liberties  of  the  American  revolu- 
tion, they  were  the  uncompromising  advocates  long 
before  a  single  ray  of  independence  had  illuminated 
our  horizon.  Those  advocates  of  that  moral  order 
of  society,  which  at  once  recognizes  the  claims  of 
God  and  rights  of  man,  rejoiced  in  the  persuasion 
that  in  those  Ecclesiastical  Bodies  which  had  un- 
happily gone  down  from  the  elevated  platform  of 
the  second  Eeformation,  there  were  not  a  few,  both 
ministers  and  private  members,  who  sympathized 
with  the  great  principles  of  that  Reformation,  but 
who,  for  various  reasons,  saw  proper  to  remain  in 
their  existing  connections.  To  these  and  the  sound 
principles  still  retained  in  their  standards,  they 
looked,  under  God  (and  we  continue  the  expecta- 
tion), as  giving  promise  of  a  day  of  revival  in  favor 
of  a  more  full  and  consistent  profession  ;  assured 
that  Presbyterianism,  even  under  the  more  imper- 
fect forms  and  unhappy  modifications  often  given 
it,  is  possessed  of  elements  that  lead  forward  to  a 
full  assertion  of  truth  and  right.     Those  expecta- 


PRESBYTERIAN    FAMILY.  157 

tions  have  been  at  different  times  partially  realized. 
The  revolution  of  1688,  in  Great  Britain,  spoke 
distinctly  on  the  subjeet,  and  that  of  1776,  in 
America,  in  a  still  more  emphatic  voice.  The 
latter,  that  of  1776,  broke  the  charm  of  "the  settle- 
ment of  the  illustrious  house  of  Hanover"  on  the 
British  throne,  and  forever  separated  the  United 
States  from  all  subjection  to  an  Erastian  and  im- 
moral crown.  Correspondent  indications  have  been 
found  in  the  secessions  from  the  present  Scottish 
establishment,  the  rupture  of  1843,  and  in  Amer- 
ica by  the  old  school  Presbyterian  action  of  the 
years  1837  and  1838. 

What  then  stands  in  the  way  of  a  complete 
coalescence  of  the  whole  Presbyterian  family  in  the 
United  States  ?  This  inquiry  is  often  made,  and  it 
deserves  attention,  and  in  its  proper  place,  an 
answer ;  though  at  this  time,  and  in  this  place, 
nothing  can  be  given  beyond  a  mere  reference  to 
the  materials  of  a  reply. 

He  knows  but  little  of  a  man  who  is  not  apprised 
of  the  extended  influence  of  principle,  whether  of 
truth  or  error,  upon  the  mind,  habits,  conduct,  and 
character  of  those  who  have  embraced  it.  Truth 
and  error  are  antipodes,  and  the  characters  formed 
under  their  influence  are  not  well  fitted  to  coalesce. 
If  the  error  be  a  fundamental  one,  it  will  exten- 
sively work  its  way,  both  directly  and  indirectly, 
in  the  production  of  evil.  Its  tendency  is,  in  a 
special  manner,  to  produce  an  obtuseness  of  the 


158  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

spiritual  sensibilities  of  the  soul,  for  which  no  com- 
pensation is  found  in  the  mere  secular  or  literary 
taste,  sometimes  substituted  in  its  stead,  and  mis- 
taken for  it.  This  defect  of  sensibility  is,  to  a  lam- 
entable extent,  often  found  in  good  men,  evincing 
itself  in  a  non-perception  of  the  value  of  spiritual 
truth,  and  the  practical  bearing  of  the  principles 
of  moral  order.  Of  this  we  have  testimony  in  the 
state  of  the  doctrines,  worship,  and  order  of  many 
sections  of  the  Church.  A  wilHng  relation  of  a 
Church  to  an  Erastian  throne,  and  a  timid  yielding 
to  the  encroachments  of  that  power,  for  three 
generations,  without  deleterious  results  upon  both 
the  individual  and  the  social  mind,  who  could  ex- 
pect?—  results  unseen  and  unfelt  by  their  subjects, 
and  on  points  and  in  directions  unsuspected  by  the 
careless  spectator,  but  to  which  the  enlightened  ad- 
vocate of  a  higher  principle  and  a  better  course  may 
be  peculiarly  sensible. 

The  Presbyterian  records  of  the  last  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  in  America,  will  be  found  to  give  the 
most  satisfactory  reply  to  the  inquiry  before  us. 
And  passing  by  those  of  some  smaller  divisions  of 
the  Presbyterian  family  who,  on  some  points,  acted 
an  unworthy  part,  the  authentic  memorials  of  the 
three  existing  General  Assemblies  in  the  United 
States,  will  shed  light  upon  the  whole  subject.  These 
assemblies  are  the  descendants  of  the  Scottish  rev- 
olution Church,  with  its  Irish  branch,  the  synod  of 
Ulster, —  the  Church  which  took  her  stand  under 


NEVER   MADE    SECESSION.  159 

another  head  beside  the  Lord  Christ.  The  seeds 
of  the  past  and  present  evils  of  those  assemblies 
were  planted  in  the  compromises  with  moral  wrong 
which  characterized  the  early  organizations  of  their 
predecessors.  The  unhappy  developments  of  the 
evils  of  those  unbecoming  compromises,  the  distin- 
guished men  of  a  worthy  minority  belonging  to 
them  could  not  prevent. 

This  brief  reference  to  historical  facts  evinces  that 
a  steadfast  adherence  to  the  attainments  of  the 
Presbyterian  Reformation,  and  not  a  secession  from 
any  other  Protestant  body,  —  for  suoh  secession 
they  never  made,  —  gave  occasion  to  the  designa- 
tion of  "Reformed  Presbyterian,"  by  which  this 
people,  whose  history  is  now  written,  are  distin- 
guished from  other  portions  of  the  Presbyterian 
flimily.  All  these  portions  they  regard  with  affec- 
tion, though  with  them  they  cannot  recede  from 
their  ancient  ecclesiastical  ground. 

The  doctrinal  standards  of  the  Reformed  Pres- 
byterian Church  having  been  settled  in  corre- 
spondence with  her  peculiar  circumstances  as  now 
stated,  presented  the  materials  of  her  permanent 
profession  and  testimony.  The  application  of  the 
principles  of  this  profession  in  the  course  of  her 
administration,  if  just  and  wise,  she  saw  must  be 
modified  by  the  condition  of  the  objects  about 
which  they  were  conversant.  In  the  principles  of 
her  creed  there  was  a  perfect  coincidence  of  mind 
among  her  ministers  and  people ;  and  in  the  pru? 


160  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

dential  measures  for  carrying  them  into  effect, 
there  was  no  difference  of  opinion  to  give  disturb- 
ance. The  active  spirit  of  the  time,  and  the 
transition  condition  of  the  social  state,  however, 
made  it  necessary,  in  her  administration,  to  adopt 
some  provisional  regulations.  These  could  not  be 
of  authority  beyond  the  existence  of  the  reasons 
of  their  enactment. 

The  cordial  union,  at  this  period,  of  the  minis- 
ters of  the  Church  in  principle,  and  their  mutual 
affection  and  confidence,  were  exemplary  and  re- 
markable :  their  zeal  was  enlightened  and  ardent, 
their  labors  were  abundant,  their  selfdenial  un- 
usual, and  in  their  ministerial  work,  their  success 
was  such  as  to  evince  that  their  labor  was  not  in 
vain  in  the  Lord.  Of  the  character  of  the  age  they 
were  not  unapprised,  nor  to  the  signs  of  the  times 
were  they  inattentive.  They  were  fully  persuaded 
that  their  cause  embraced  in  one  harmonious  system, 
according  to  the  Bible  revelation,  the  cause  of  both 
God  and  man,  and  was,  in  its  principles,  capable  of 
being  carried  out  in  an  extended  application  to 
every  land.  They  believed  that,  in  its  results,  it 
is  destined  to  produce  among  every  people  an  ele- 
vated intellectual,  moral,  and  religious  character, 
qualifying  for  the  duty  and  happiness  of  that  state, 
which  the  promise  of  God  connected  with  the  high 
moral  order  which  his  law  prescribes ;  and,  at  the 
same  time,  they  well  knew  that,  for  the  actual 
attainment  of  these,  '^  the  time  was  not  yet,"  and, 


PROGRESS.  161 

of  course,  they  did  iK)t  expect  an  immediate  very 
extensive  impression  in  favor  of  either  themselves 
or  the  hallowed  cause  for  which  they  were  willing 
to  labor.  As  long  as  the  Church  is  in  her  wilder- 
ness state,  so  long  her  cause  and  her  consistent 
ciiildren  will  not  be  extensively  regarded  with 
great  favor,  either  by  the  men  of  the  w^orld,  or  by 
such  of  her  own  family  as  nearly  confine  on  the 
world's  domain.  For  the  issues  of  Providence  they 
w^ere  not  unprepared.  Their  own  historical  rela- 
tions with  the  past  they  understood  ;  and  with  the 
future,  by  a  living  faith  in  the  infallible  truth  of 
God's  promise,  and  in  the  verity  of  the  sure  word 
of  prophecy,  their  minds  and  hearts  were  con- 
nected. The  principles  which  they  had  espoused 
they  understood,  the  cause  to  which  those  princi- 
ples gave  vitality  they  loved ;  of  its  ultimate  suc- 
cess in  the  establishment  of  righteousness  and 
order  in  what  has  been,  and  still  is,  a  very  un- 
righteous and  disorderly  world,  they  entertained 
no  doubt;  and  for  its  sake  they  had  willingly  en- 
gaged, without  any  unbecoming  feeling  towards 
others,  in  its  self-denying  labors. 

The  progress  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
cause,  if  it  did  not  exceed,  at  least  equalled  the 
most  sanguine  calculations  of  its  early  friends. 
With  the  increasing  number  of  ministers,  congre- 
gations demanding  their  ministrations  multiplied 
beyond  their  power  to  meet  their  necessities.  Dur- 
ing many  years,  this  state  of  affairs  gave  to  the 
11 


162  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

ministry  much  of  a  missionary  character,  a  character 
not  alien  to  it  still.  According  to  their  means,  in 
their  contributions  the  people  were  liberal.  While 
efficient  in  action,  the  ministry  endeavored  to  be 
discriminating  in  judgment, -and  for  a  long  period 
peace  reigned,  with  few  and  short-lived  interrup- 
tions, in  all  our  borders.  Cases  calling  for  marked 
discipline  were  rare,  and  when  called  for,  while  it 
was  firm  in  its  exercise,  it  was  temperate  in  its 
spirit.  While  our  ecclesiastical  fellowship  was  dis- 
tinct, yet  the  Christian  intercourse  of  our  ministers 
and  people  with  those  of  other  denominations,  on 
the  broad  ground  of  the  common  Christianity,  was 
courteous,  frank,  and  generous.  Such,  indeed,  as 
became  the  friends  of  truth  in  the  enjoyment  of  an 
unhampered  civil  and  religious  liberty ;  ever  ready 
to  join  and  co-operate  with  them  in  every  work  for 
the  public  good,  when  no  sacrifice  of  principle  or 
of  organical  consistency  was  required  to  be  made. 

Fully  persuaded  of  the  necessity  of  a  well-edu- 
cated ministry,  the  attention  of  the  Church  was 
turned  to  the  subject,  and  in  A.  D.  1807  arrange- 
ments were  made  for  the  establishment  of  a  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  B. 
Wylie,  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  was  appointed 
Professor.  Early  in  1808  the  seminary  was  for- 
mally organized,  the  Rev.  Alexander  McLeod,  D.  D., 
and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  John  Black  and  Gilbert 
McMaster  being,  by  appointment,  the  superinten- 
dents.    The   important   and   responsible    office    of 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.  163 

Professor  was  held  by  Dr.  Wylie,  and  its  arduous 
duties  discharged  by  him  with  distinguished  ability 
and  faithfulness,  until  May,  1851,  when,  finding  it 
his  duty  to  resign  his  chair,  his  resignation  was, 
with  much  regret,  reluctantly  accepted  by  General 
Synod.  For  some  years  Dr.  Wylie  was  aided  in 
the  labors  of  the  seminary  by  his  son,  the  Rev. 
Theodorus  W.  J.  Wylie,  as  junior  professor,  and  like- 
wise for  a  shorter  period  by  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  W. 
Crawford.  In  1850  it  was  judged  advisable  by 
General  Synod  to  appoint  a  Theological  Institution 
in  the  West.  Xenia,  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  was  des- 
ignated as  its  location,  and  the  Rev.  Gilbert  McMas- 
ter,  D.  D.,  was  appointed  Professor  of  Theology. 
Upon  the  acceptance  of  the  resignation  of  Dr. 
Wylie,  and  of  that  of  the  Rev.  T.  W.  J.  Wylie,  in 
1851,  it  was  resolved  by  Synod  to  remove  the 
Eastern  seminary  from  the  city  of  Philadelphia  to 
that  of  New  York  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  Rev. 
John  N.  McLeod,  D.  D.,  was  appointed  Professor  of 
Theology.  Both  these  institutions  are  still  in  opera- 
tion. And  thus  for  a  period  of  forty-five  years  has 
this  Church,  in  the  United  States,  been  endeavoring 
to  provide  for  the  regular  training  of  an  educated 
ministry,  in  conformity  with  the  example  of  our 
fathers  of  an  earlier  day. 

The  sister  co-ordinate  judicatories  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  Scotland  and  Ireland,  as 
was  understood  by  a  correspondence  on  the  subject, 
contemplated  an  organic  modification,  by  the  con- 


164  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

stitution  of  Synods  in  those  countries,  respectively  * 
To  neither  of  those  Synods,  when  constituted,  with- 
out great  inconvenience,  uncompensated  under  the 
then  existing  circumstances  hy  any  corresponding 
advantage,  could  the  American  Department  be  in 
organized  subjection.  This  fact,  in  connection  with 
some  other  considerations,  to  prevent  the  appear- 
ance of  an  organic  anomaly,  led  the  way  to  the 
constitution  of  the  American  Synod.  On  May  24, 
1809,  all  the  ministers  of  the  Reformed  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  being  present, 
did,  with  ruling  Elders,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  only  Head  of  the  Church,  with 
prayer,  constitute  —  The  Synod  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  North 
America.  Upon  the  constitution  of  Synod,  the 
Rev.  Gilbert  McMaster  was  appointed  Moderator, 
and  the  Rev.  John  Black,  stated  clerk.  Synod 
adopted,  as  their  own,  the  acts  of  the  late  Presby- 
tery, and  authorized  and  directed  the  formation  of 

*  A  regular  correspondence  between  the  Scottish,  the  Irish,  and  the 
American  synods  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  has  been,  and 
is  still  maintained.  Sometimes  this  has  been  by  delegation  as  well  as 
by  letters.  In  1830  the  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  McLeod  was  a  delegate 
to  the  Scottish  and  Irish  synods,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Black  in  1832.  In  1831 
tlie  Rev.  Dr.  William  Henry  was  a  delegate  to  the  American  synod 
from  that  of  Ireland.  Delegates  at  other  times  were  appointed  by  all 
the  synods  respectively ;  but,  owing  to  unforeseen  circumstances,  failed 
in  the  fulfilment  of  their  appointment,  Tliese  several  departments  of 
the  Church  are  in  the  most  friendly  relations  with  each  other,  as  co- 
ordinate sister  judicatories,  in  different  countries.  Whether  a  more 
close  organical  relationship  among  them  shall  be  soon  established,  is 
not  yet  determined. 


GENERAL    SYNOD.  165 

three  Presbyteries  to  be  designated,  in*  accordance 
with  the  localities  of  the  ministers  and  people,  the 
Northern,  Middle,  and  Southern  Presbyteries.  As 
the  Church  increased  the  boundaries  of  these  Pres- 
byteries were  modified,  and  new  ones  were  ap- 
pointed. 

In  A.  D.  1823  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  give 
the  supreme  judicatory  of  the  Church  the  form  of 
a  representative  body,  to  meet  biennially,  composed 
of  delegates,  or  commissioners,  from  the  several 
Presbyteries  in  a  specified  proportion  to  the  mem- 
bers of  each  ;  but  without  affecting  the  powers  of 
Synod.  These  powers  continued  to  be  what  they 
had  been,  under  the  previous  organization.  To 
meet  the  Presbyterial  condition  of  things,  in  the 
intervals  of  the  biennial  meetings  of  General  Synod, 
occasion  was  ffiven  in  1831  to  authorize  the  oro;an- 
ization  of  two  Synods,  to  be  known  as  the  Eastern 
and  Western  Synods,  subordinate  to  General  Synod. 
A  change  of  circumstances,  to  be  noted  in  its  place, 
induced  a  suspension  of  the  operations  of  those 
Synods,  which,  at  no  very  distant  day,  it  may  be 
found  advisable  to  resume. 

We  turn,  at  this  place,  to  notice  an  occurrence 
not  unworthy  of  historical  record.  In  1825  a  pro- 
posal of  ecclesiastical  correspondence  with  General 
Synod,  was  made  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  United  States ;  and  in 
August  of  that  year,  it  was  submitted  to,  and  by 
Synod  entertained,  for  consideration.     In  order  to 


166  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

prepare  a  plan  of  correspondence  to  be  submitted 
to  the  Supreme  Judicatories  of  the  two  bodies,  re- 
spectively, a  committee  was  appointed  to  meet  that 
of  the  General  Assembly.  Those  committees  met 
and  agreed  upon  a  plan  to  be  recommended  to 
their  courts  for  approval.  The  plan  presented  is 
embraced  in  the  three  following  articles  :  — 

Article  L  The  General  Assembly,  and  the  Synod 
of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  lamenting 
the  existing  separations  between  the  members  of 
the  body  of  Christ,  and  believing  that  all  the  mem- 
bers of  that  body,  being  many^  are  one  body,  and 
trusting  to  the  word  of  God,  that  these  separations 
will  not  be  perpetual,  do  agree  to  use  all  scriptural 
means,  in  the  exercise  of  patience  and  prudence, 
to  bring  their  several  ecclesiastical  connections  to 
uniformity  in  doctrine,  worship,  and  order,  according 
to  the  word  of  God. 

Article  II.  In  order  to  bring  about  this  desirable 
object  on  the  basis  of  the  proper  unity  of  the  visible 
Church,  it  is  mutually  covenanted,  that  the  ministers, 
members,  and  judicatories  of  these  churches,  treat- 
ing each  other  with  Christian  respect,  shall  alwUys 
recognize  the  validity  of  each  other's  acts  and  or- 
dinances consonant  to  the  Scriptures  ;  and  yet,  that 
any  church  judicatory  belonging  to  either  body,  may 
examine  persons,  or  review  cases  of  discipline  on 
points  at  present  peculiar  or  distinctive  to  themselves. 

Article  III.  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  the  Synod  of  the  Reformed 


CORRESPONDENCE.  167 

Presbyterian  Church,  shall  severally  appoint  two 
Commissioners,  with  an  alternate  to  each,  to  attend 
these  judicatories  respectively,  who  shall  hold  their 
offices  till  they  are  superseded  by  another  choice  ; 
and  these  Commissioners  shall  have  the  privilege 
of  proposing  measures  important  to  the  Church  of 
Christ,  and  of  delivering  their  opinions  on  any 
question  und'er  discussion ;  but  they  shall  have  no 
vote  in  its  decisions. 

In  1826  these  articles  were  accepted  by  the 
General  Assembly ;  and,  in  1827,  were  brought 
before  General  Synod,  by  the  Eev.  Alexander 
McLeod,  D.  D.,  the  chairman  of  their  committee, 
who,  in  an  address  of  unusual  ability  and  eloquence, 
—  subsequently  given  to  the  public  through  the 
press,  —  sustained  the  report  of  the  committee,  and 
recommended  to  Synod  the  adoption  of  the  plan. 
The  subject  was  fully  discussed  ;  but  by  a  small 
majority  was,  for  the  time,  rejected.  Further  action 
in  the  matter  was  indefinitely  postponed.  Of  the 
principle  of  the  plan  there  was  a  general  approba- 
tion ;  but  on  the  part  of  some  there  was  an  ap- 
prehension, that  by  a  considerable  portion  of  both 
bodies  the  subject  was  not  well  understood ;  that, 
if  then  adopted,  it  would  lead  to  abuses  ;  and  others 
suspected  that  the  elements,  then  in  active  operation 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which  in  1837  issued 
in  the  disruption  of  the  General  Assembly,  as  well 
as  some  latent  causes  of  discord  among  ourselves, 
would,  in  both  bodies,  interfere  with  the  advantages 


168  mSTORICAL    VIEW. 

to  the  parties  which  were  anticipated  by  the  friends 
of  the  plan  of  correspondence. 

With  the  reasons  for  the  rejection  of  this  measure 
a  strong  minority  were  not  satisfied  ;  but  to  the 
will  of  the  majority  they  quietly  gave  way.  The 
plan  was  not,  as  some  alleged,  one  of  Ecclesiastical 
union,  though  calculated,  in  order  to  their  removal, 
to  ascertain  the  true  causes  of  existing  divisions. 
It  had  no  tendency  either  to  justify  or  perpetuate 
unhallowed  separations  in  the  Church,  neither  did 
it  open  a  door  to  a  busy  intermeddling  with  each 
other's  distinct  organization  ;  nor  did  it  give  any 
countenance  to  a  breaking  in  upon  the  sacred  con- 
ditions of  sacramental  fellowship,  or  any  other 
properly  organical  Ecclesiastical  ordinance,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  religious  institutions  simply  Chris- 
tian, and  of  a  private  character.  Its  object  was  a 
well-reu:ulated  intercourse  of  two  Ecclesiastical 
bodies,  which,  from  circumstances  produced  by 
neither  of  them,  could  not  organically  be  one,  yet 
had  much  in  common,  and  mutually  respected  one 
another;  furnishing  the  opportunity  for  an  en- 
lightened and  liberal  discussion  of  subjects  of  gen- 
eral interest,  and,  without  danger  to  sound  principles, 
tending  to  set  aside  the  bad  influence  of  a  mere 
party  spirit,  and  thus  contribute  something  towards 
a  final  pacification  of  the  Church  on  earth.  The 
failure  of  the  plan  produced  between  the  parties  no 
unpleasant  feelings;  and  the  proposed  measure  was 
otherwise  salutary,  being  a  mutual  recognition  of 


ASSOCIATE   SYNOD.  169 

the  two  bodies  as  actual  departments  of  the  king- 
dom of  Christ. 

The  year  1827  was  marked,  too,  by  the  com- 
mencement of  a  correspondence  with  the  Synod  of 
the  Associate  Church;  the  leading  facts  of  which, 
for  the  prevention  of  misapprehension  in  the  matter, 
it  may  not,  in  this  record,  be  out  of  place  to  notice. 
In  their  public  profession,  as  regards  the  doctrine, 
worship,  and  order  of  the  Church,  Reformed  Pres- 
byterians, and  the  several  Associate  bodies,  happily^ 
to  a  great  extent,  occupy  a  common  ground  ;  and 
notwithstanding  some  difference  of  views  on  certain 
subjects,  on  some  occasions  discussed  by  each  with 
sufficient  ardor,  yet  between  them,  personally  and 
ecclesiastically,  it  is  believed  there  has  always  ex- 
isted a  respectful  and  affectionate  regard.  That,  in 
the  details  of  a  protracted  discussion  of  subjects, 
under  some  of  their  aspects  complex,  and  under 
others  somewhat  abstract,  extending  through  several 
generations  and  in  different  countries,  there  should, 
on  both  sides,  be  some  misapprehensions  of  the 
matter  in  dispute,  it  is  not  difficult  to  suppose,  nor 
very  humbling  to  admit.  Complaints  to  this  amount, 
by  each  of  those  bodies,  had  been  repeatedly  made. 
That  which  now  invited  attention  had  respect  to  a 
statement  in  the  "  historical  view  "  prefixed  to  the 
testimony  of  this  Church,  of  certain  positions  sup- 
posed to  be  embraced  in  the  profession  of  the  Asso- 
ciate Church.  Those  positions,  as  stated  in  that 
narrative,  were,  in  part,  supposed  to  be  justified  by 


170  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

express  avowals,  and,  in  part,  to  be  legitimate  de- 
ductions from  their  acknowledged  principles.  The 
positions,  to  give  them  distinction,  but  not  intended 
to  give  the  idea  of  literal  quotations,  were  marked 
by  inverted  commas.  Of  this  statement,  in  a  letter 
of  May,  1826,  addressed  to  the  Synod  of  the  Ke- 
formed  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Associate  Synod 
complained,  as  not  being  a  fair  representation  of 
secession  principles,  on  the  specified  subjects. 

The  letter  of  the  Associate  Synod,  while  in  a 
tone  of  sufficient  earnestness  and  temper,  was  not 
destitute  of  the  spirit  of  courtesy  and  kindness.  In 
it  the  Associate  brethren,  in  reference  to  those  of 
whom  they  complain,  say,  "  It  is  pleasing  to  state 
that  there  is  a  general  coincidence  between  your 
views  of  truth  and  duty  and  ours,  and  we  trust  it  is 
our  unfeigned  desire  that  it  should  be  extended  to 
every  part  of  our  Christian  profession."  To  this,  in 
a  similar  spirit,  the  Keformed  Presbyterian  Synod 
responded.  They  declared,  "  We  take  no  interest 
in  putting  any  one  in  the  wrong.  It  is  possible, 
we  admit,  that  controversies  on  very  minute  topics, 
carried  on  for  several  years,  by  many  different 
waiters,  may  have  led  to  misunderstandings  and 
misrepresentations,  which  an  impartial  reviewer 
might  find  it  in  his  power  to  correct.  Gladly  shall 
we  correct  any  misapprehensions  into  which  we 
may  have  fallen  respecting  things  in  controversy 
between  our  fathers,  and  meet  with  open  arms 
brethren  who  harmonize  with  us  in  the  great  moral 


ASSOCIATE   SYNOD.  171 

principles  and  pious  practices  of  the  Churches  of 
the  Reformation." 

The  correspondence  was  for  some  time  continued; 
but  at  length,  having  assumed  a  form  which  it  was 
believed  would  be  of  no  benefit  to  either  of  the 
bodies,  the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Synod  dismissed 
the  farther  consideration  of  the  subject  by  the  pro- 
posal. That  should  the  Associate  Synod  furnish 
us  with  an  authorized  declaration  of  their  views 
upon  the  several  topics  complained  of,  it  would  by 
us  be  inserted  in  the  next  edition  of  our  '*  Historical 
View."  This  proposal  our  brethren  of  the  Associ- 
ate Synod  did  not  see  proper  to  accept,  further  than 
by  a  general  reference  to  the  statements  of  their 
Church  standards,  the  import  of  which  we  con- 
sidered to  be  the  subject  of  inquiry,  and  the  matter 
in  dispute.  To  us  it  would  have  been  gratifying, 
could  they  have  agreed  upon  it,  to  have  had  the 
views  which  they  entertain  upon  those  topics,  stated 
in  other  language  than  that  of  their  standards,  by 
our  brethren  themselves.  On  both  sides,  it  is  not 
improbable,  that  a  candid  consideration  of  some 
unguarded,  though  established  forms  of  expression, 
would  bring  them  nearer  to  a  oneness  in  their 
public  testimony.  For  this  event  the  parties  wait 
in  hope. 

To  the  actual  condition  and  tendencies  of  the 
times,  at  this  period,  as  regarded  the  whole  Church, 
the  members  of  Synod  were  neither  insensible  nor 
inattentive,  and  the  dangers    threatening  the  Re- 


172  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

formed  Presbyterian  cause,  in  all  its  localities,  were 
not  unforeseen.  This  will  appear,  among  other 
proofs,  by  the  following  extracts  from  a  synodical 
letter  of  1827,  to  the  Scottish  Synod.  In  that  letter 
are  found  the  following  remarks  and  proposals : 
."  There  are  —  from  the  moral  state  of  civilized 
society  over  all  the  nations,  dangers  to  the  Refor- 
mation cause,  common  to  us  and  to  you.  It  is  a 
time  of  excitement  to  the  mind  in  all  its  faculties. 
Distinctions  are  disputed,  walls  of  partition  are 
tottering,  establishments  are  undermined,  —  the 
ancient  forests  are  yielding  to  the  axe  and  to  the 
fire,  and  we  know  not  what  kind  of  cultivation  is 
first  to  succeed  the  burning.  God  reigneth.  The 
seed  of  the  Eeformation  corn  is  the  best.  Great  is 
the  truth,  and  it  must  prevail.  But  wdiere  shall 
our  several  Synods  be  found  among  the  Churches 
of  God  in  every  land,  when  the  fruit  of  the  moun- 
tain corn  shall  shake  like  Lebanon,  and  they  of  the 
city  shall  flourish  like  the  grass  of  the  earth? 

"  There  is  danger  of  our  existence  as  a  Church, 
if  we  imitate  too  far  the  habits  of  others.  There 
is  danger  of  our  existing  uselessly  and  ignobly,  if 
we  are  not  aw^akened  thoroughly  to  love  and  good 
works.  It  appears  to  us  that  the  time  is  come  for 
definitely  shaping  our  course  of  public  policy,  in 
regard  to  modern  movements,  in  order  that,  on  the 
one  hand,  we  may  not  suffer  any  relaxation  of  our 
Testimony  to  take  place,  and  on  the  other,  that  we 
preserve  the  liberties  of  the  Church  from  destruc- 


COVENANT   PROPOSED.  173 

tion  by  the  inflaence  of  mere  popular  opinions. 
Shall  the  Church  be  content  to  labor  with  the 
industry  of  the  insect,  in  gathering  the  particles 
which  compose  its  impenetrable  shell  in  which  it- 
self expires  ?  Or  shall  we  unlock  the  repository 
of  the  martyr's  flag,  follow  him  whose  vesture  is 
dipped  in  blood,  and  venture  out  amongst  the  con- 
tending elements,  with  waving  banners,  to  take 
part  in  the  victory? 

"  We  suggest  to  you,  reverend  and  dear  brethren, 
a  plan  of  co-operation  for  all  the  Churches  of  the 
Reformation,  in  whatever  land ;  and  we  request 
an  expression  of  your  oiDinion  upon  each  of  the 
articles. 

"  1.  That  a  stated  correspondence  be  established 
among  the  several  Synods  of  the  Reformed  Presby- 
terian Church,  each  with  the  others,  and  keep  each 
other  advised  of  all  public  measures  bearing  upon 
their  common  interests. 

2.  "  That  measures  be  taken  to  provide  a  mutual 
league  and  covenant,  which  will  apply  equally  to 
all  the  Churches  of  our  connection  in  whatever 
land ;  and  so  form  one  bond  of  union  and  co-opera- 
tion for  the  friends  of  the  covenanted  Reformation. 

3.  "  That  the  several  judicatories  shall  once  in 
three  years  send  a  delegate  or  two  to  correspond, 
personally,  with  each  of  the  forementioned  judica- 
tories." 

These  measures,  in  substance,  had  repeatedly 
been  proposed  before  this  time  by  us,  and  especially 


174  HISTOKICAL   VIEW. 

at  the  Synodical  meeting  of  1823,  they  were  sub- 
jects of  consideration.  In  1830  the  whole  subject 
was  brought  before  the  Scottish  Synod  by  the  late 
Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  McLeod,  who,  at  that  time,  on 
a  visit  to  Europe,  was  received  as  our  delegate,  and 
as  a  member  of  the  committee  appointed  to  that 
service,  reported  a  draft  of  a  league  and  covenant 
upon  the  principles  above  stated.  It  was  adopted 
in  overture,  transmitted  to  the  Synods  of  Ireland 
and  the  United  States,  and  by  them  taken  under 
consideration.  It  is  a  noble  document,  in  its  views 
comprehensive,  in  its  principles  liberal  and  sound, 
in  its  terms  precise,  remarkably  calculated  to  give 
expression  to  the  great  cause  of  the  Reformation, 
and  without  embarrassment  from  mere  local  or 
transient  circumstances,  to  unite  upon  great  prin- 
ciples and  for  a  great  object  the  members  of  the 
Church,  in  a  sacred  fellowship  and  in  an  efficient 
activity.  Why  it  has  been  permitted  so  long  to 
slumber  in  the  form  of  overture  is,  perhaps,  not 
well  accounted  for  either  by  its  supposed  defects 
in  some  local  provisions,  or  by  certain  inauspicious 
events  which  occurred  among  us  in  the  years  im- 
mediately following  its  reception  for  consideration. 
And  to  what  extent  its  full  and  practical  adoption, 
accordino;  to  the  orio;inal  intentions  of  its  friends, 
along  with  a  well-regulated  correspondence  with 
other  departments  of  the  Christian  commonwealth, 
might  have  prevented  those  events,  it  is  not  the 
province  of  this  history  to  decide. 


SCOTTISH    SYNOD.  175 

The  cause  of  the  Eeformation  in  the  hands  of 
the  Church  advanced.  Ministers,  people,  and  con- 
gregations increased  in  number,  and  were  spread 
over  a  vast  region  of  country.  New  States  rapidly 
arose  out  of  the  wilderness,  distinguished  by  popu- 
lation, wealth,  civilization,  the  arts  of  peace,  and 
in  the  enjoyment  of  liberty,  religious  and  civil,  as 
unrestrained  as  man  could  wish.  To  the  progress 
of  our  ecclesiastical  movements  and  success  in  those 
movements,  there  were  no  impediments  from  the 
state  of  things  without ;  none  except  what  arose 
directly  from  the  evils  of  the  human  heart.  The 
peculiar  principles  of  the  Reformation,  in  their 
bearing  upon  the  public  morality  of  the  social  state, 
were  imbuing  the  public  mind,  and  the  prospects 
of  Reformed  Presbyterianism  were  highly  promising. 
To  the  Church,  in  times  of  outward  prosperity,  there 
is  always  danger,  when  her  children,  too  much  con- 
fiding in  privilege,  become  correspondently  unmind- 
ful of  their  dependence  upon  God.  However  this 
might  be  in  our  case,  causes  were  found  in  operation 
with  us,  to  some  extent  interfering  with  our  peace- 
ful and  happy  progress.  Violent  action  is  rarely 
the  effect  of  its  professed  causes.  Something  un- 
named, and  which  would  not  do  to  avow,  could  it  be 
found,  would  generally  be  ascertained  as  the  true 
spring  of  such  action.  In  the  case  to  which  refer- 
ence is  now  made,  we  shall  not  go  in  search  of 
hidden  motives,  but  shall  content  ourselves  with  a 
simple  outline  of  leading  and  known  facts. 


176  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

The  doctrinal  standards  of  the  Church,  as  has 
been  stated,  were  settled,  and,  on  the  subject  of 
political  morality,  were  right.  That  no  govern- 
ment to  w^hose  constitution  immoraHty  is  essential 
can  morally  claim,  as  due  to  it,  an  oath  of  fealty 
obliging  to  its  unconditional  support ;  and  that  no 
state  law,  requiring  the  violation  of  the  eternal  rule 
of  righteousness,  the  law  of  God,  ought  to  be 
obeyed  by  the  moral  being,  in  the  science  of  ethics, 
are  settled  points.  In  the  laws  of  the  States,  and 
of  the  United  States,  evils  had  been  found.  The 
chief  political  wrong  was  that  of  African  slavery. 
The  African  slave  trade  was  protected  by  law ;  and 
at  the  period  of  which  we  treat,  slavery  existed, 
with  a  single  exception,  in  every  State  of  the 
Union.  Every  citizen  was  liable,  in  a  given  case, 
to  be  called  upon,  judicially,  to  pass  between  the 
master  and  the  slave,  and,  legally,  to  recognize  the 
right  of  the  master  to  reduce  the  moral  being  from 
the  rank  of  a  free  man,  and  to  hold  him  and  his 
posterity  in  perpetuity  as  his  chattels.  To  meet 
this  condition  of  things,  ecclesiastical  regulations 
were  called  for,  and  enactments  were  made  prohib- 
itory of  a  participation  in  the  doing  of  this  wrong. 
These  enactments  were  of  a  precautionary  and  pro- 
visional character,  and  would  be  of  authority  no 
longer  than  the  existence  of  the  evils  against  which 
they  w^ere  intended  to  guard  the  morals  of  the 
members  of  the  Church.  As  the  evil  laws  were 
modified  or  abrogated,  so  it  behooved  the  Church 


FEDERAL    GOVERNMENT.  177 

to  adapt  to  the  actual  state  of  things  her  enact- 
ments ;  it  being  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  as  well 
as  an  express  declaration  of  the  supreme  judicatory, 
—  "that  no  connection  with  the  laws,  the  officers, 
or  order  of  the  state,  is  forbidden  by  the  Church, 
except  what  truly  involves  immorality."  And  to 
adjudicate  particular  cases,  under  a  general  and 
well  known  principle,  was  left  to  the  local  ecclesias- 
tical authorities. 

Years,  as  they  passed,  produced  their  changes. 
The  African  slave  trade  was  abolished,  declared  to 
be  piracy,  a  capital  crime,  and  the  citizen  engaged 
in  it,  when  convicted,  legally  consigned  to  the  gal- 
lows. In  half  of  the  old  slave-holding  States,  slave 
laws  and  slavery  were  disannulled  ;  and  new  States, 
the  place  of  residence  of  many  of  our  people,  were 
almost  annually  organized,  and,  as  free  common- 
wealths, constitutionally  prohibited  the  existence 
of  slavery  within  their  bounds.  On  other  subjects 
connected  with  sound  morals,  either  in  the  course 
of  legislation,  or  by  the  decision  of  courts  settling 
on  the  side  of  ris^hteousness  what  had  been  held  as 
doubtful,  other  grounds  of  objection  to  the  civil 
order  of  the  state  were  taken  out  of  the  way  of 
conscientioQs  men.  Discussions  of  the  principles 
of  constitutional  law  were  of  frequent  occurrence, 
and  shed  a  light  upon  the  character  of  state  and 
federal  relations  and  institutions,  giving  a  more 
comprehensive  and  discriminating  understanding 
of  their  complex  nature  than  was  possible  to  be  had 
12 


178  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

at  an  earlier  period  of  their  existence.  Thus  the  po- 
litical state  of  the  country  became  modified  ;  and  in 
correspondence  with  those  modifications,  the  relations 
of  our  people  with  reference  to  them  were  qualified. 

Still,  in  different  States,  and  in  the  same  State  at 
periods  of  no  great  distance  from  one  another,  the 
condition  of  things  of  the  same  nature  was  very 
different.  This  diversity  arose  from  changes  which 
often  occurred  in  the  constitutional  or  legal  pro- 
visions of  the  several  departments  of  the  confed- 
eracy, which  gave  occasion,  while  Church  members 
were  agreed  in  principle  and  not  really  contradictory 
in  practice,  to  some  diversity  of  action,  not  well 
understood  by  the  imperfectly  informed,  and  per- 
haps misrepresented  by  the  designing.  The  pecu- 
liar organization  of  the  Federal  government,  too, 
gave  occasion  to  misapprehensions  and  consequent 
objections.  A  distinct  and  limited  sovereignty,  in 
connection  with  reserved  and  sovereign  rights  of 
States  with  which  the  Federal  power  has  no  right 
to  interfere,  while  in  principle  very  simple,  and 
capable  in  application  of  combining  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth  in  one  great  confederacy,  was,  and  in 
many  localities  still  is,  imperfectly  understood.  The 
idea  of  a  central  power  of  universal  bearing,  sup- 
posed to  be  necessary  to  every  government,  has 
given  occasion  to  perplexity  in  reference  to  that  of 
the  United  States. 

It  has  escaped  the  eye  of  superficial  observation, 
that  the  civil  and  political  institutions  of  the  United 


MORAL   RULE.  179 

States  are  not  reorardless  of  the  interests  of  relimon 
and  morals,  because  that  little  of  their  guardianship 
or  immediate  superintendence  has  been  committed 
to  the  hands  of  the  occupants  of  the  seats  of  Federal 
power.  The  people  of  the  United  States  purposing 
to  avoid,  on  this  point,  the  abuses  of  the  nations  of 
the  old  world,  delegated  but  a  limited  power  to  the 
agents  of  their  general  government,  and  that  for  a 
very  limited  time,  reserving  in  their  own  hands  the 
controlling  power  in  public  affairs.  They  presumed 
greatly  upon  the  fact  of  a  Christian  civilization  lying 
deeply  at  the  foundation  of  their  state,  and  con- 
fided much  in  the  spirit  of  that  civilization  as  giv- 
ing life,  a  conservative  li^e,  to  their  institutions  in 
actual  administration.  In  this  they  did  not  mis- 
calculate. The  personal  and  domestic  safety,  the 
security  of  rights,  the  maintenance  of  social  order, 
the  advancement  of  knowledge,  the  multiplication 
of  the  institutions  of  Christian  benevolence,  and 
the  progress  of  religion,  throughout  the  far-spread 
domain  of  the  confederacy,  without  a  standing 
army,  and  almost  w'ithout  u  police,  furnish  ample 
proof  that  they,  in  their  principle,  were  not  mis- 
taken. The  actual  state  of  things  in  our  country, 
while  we  have  more  than  sufi&cient  proof  of  human 
depravity,  evinces  the  existence  of  an  extended  and 
profound  sense  of  moral  right  and  religious  obli- 
gation, imbuing  the  public  mind  and  giving  vitality 
to  our  institutions,  and  safety  to  our  social  relations, 
pursuits,  and  intercourse,  instead  of  the  complicated 


180  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

legal  forms  of  other  nations,  armed  with  their  penal 
sanctions,  and  guarded  and  executed  hy  their  mil- 
itary bands.  The  spirit  of  our  social  sj'stem,  with 
its  institutions,  is  neither  that  of  paganism,  anti- 
Christianism,  nor  infidelity.  It  is  essentially 
Christian,  though  flxr  from  complete  Christian  de- 
velopment. Compare  our  social  system  with  that 
of  either  pagan  or  anti-Christian  states,  and  what 
is  now  asserted  will  fully  appear.  As  to  an  infidel 
state,  such  could  not  long,  if  at  all  exist. 

Under  all  these  circumstances,  ministers  and 
people  extensively  became  satisfied  that,  at  least  in 
many  of  the  States,  there  might,  with  safety  to 
every  moral  interest,  be  •a  nearer  approximation, 
by  Church  members,  to  the  government  of  the 
country  than  was  once  allowable.  No  criminal 
neglects  were  justified,  nor  immoral  regulations 
sanctioned  by  them.  And  it  was  a  standing  decla- 
ration of  the  Church,  that  "  no  connection  with  the 
state,  its  officers  and  its  laws,  was  prohibited,  but 
such  as  really  involved  immorality."  It  was,  how- 
ever, still  kept  distinctly  in  mind,  that  though  no 
positive  immorality  might  be  found  in  the  Federal 
bond  of  Union,  nor  in  many  of  the  State  constitu- 
tions, yet  bad  men,  in  places  of  power,  might  per- 
vert to  bad  purposes  an  instrument  in  itself  good 
and  useful.  It  is  God's  own  law,  that  "  he  that 
ruleth  over  men  must  be  just,  ruling  in  the  fear  of 
God."  Rulers  must  be  morally  qualified  as  well  as 
the  principles  of  constitutions  of  government  sound. 


WAR    OF    1812.  181 

The  safety  of  the  state  demands  both  of  these. 
Christian  influence  must  never  be  prostituted  in 
giving  pohtical  eminence  to  the  immoral  man,  the 
known  enemy  of  true  reh'gion,  and  despiser  of  the 
law  of  God.  Such  is  the  standing  and  irrepealable 
law  of  the  Church.  Such  were  the  views  and  judg- 
ments of  the  senior  ministers  and  elders  of  our 
Church,  by  whom  her  testimony  had  been  framed, 
and  through  whose  ministry  her  cords  had  been 
lengthened,  and  her  stakes  made  strong.  In  a 
nearer  relation  to  the  government  of  the  country, 
they  made  no  change  in  principle ;  and  as  to  prac- 
tice, no  modification  was  allowed  except  what  was 
imposed  by  changes  in  the  public  arrangements  of 
the  commonwealth.  The  state  came  to  them,  and 
it  did  not  become  them  to  leave  their  place.  With 
special  care  it  was  endeavored  to  notice  every  pub- 
lic movement,  and  to  make  a  true  and  consistent 
application  of  the  principles  of  their  faith,  as  indi- 
cated by  the  signs  of  the  times,  in  the  light  of  the 
Bible,  was  seen  to  be  a  duty;  avoiding  the  dangers 
at  home  and  abroad  by  which  their  cause  was 
threatened.  "A  more  definite  shaping  of  our  pub- 
lic policy  "  for  the  attainment  of  the  ends  of  our 
organization,  w\'is  felt  to  be  called  for. 

Subsequent  events,  and  their  relation  both  to 
historical  truth  and  to  the  interests  of  religion  and 
morals,  require  that  certain  facts  in  reference  to  our 
civil  relations  be  briefly  stated  in  this  connection. 
To  guard  the  interests  of  political  as  well  as  of 


182  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

personal  morality,  at  an  early  period,  we  have  ad- 
verted to  precautionary  measures  and  provisional 
enactments.  Providential  occurrences,  as  time  ad- 
vanced, rendered  some  of  these  a  dead  letter.  Of 
this,  the  abolition  of  slavery  and  slave  laws  in  so 
many  States,  in  its  bearing  upon  the  office  of  ju- 
rors, is  an  instance.  The  approximation  of  State 
laws  to  the  position  of  our  Church  modified  our 
civil  relations,  and  justified  our  recognition  of  those 
relations.  This  course  was  progressive.  Afiairs  of 
state  often  give  occasion  to  ecclesiastical  develop- 
ments. In  no  land  can  the  Church  and  the  State 
have  existence,  at  the  same  time,  without  being  in 
relationship  either  friendly  or  unfriendly.  In  the 
United  States  the  Church,  in  her  religious  profes- 
sion, has  protection,  and  the  Church  puts  forth  her 
moral  influence  in  the  sustentation  of  social  order. 

The  war  of  1812,  waged  in  defence  of  the  sov- 
ereign rights  of  the  United  States  against  Great 
Britain,  by  whom  those  rights  had  been  violated, 
tended  to  give  development  to  our  civil  relations. 
In  that  war,  as  in  that  of  the  revolution,  the  United 
States  had  the  cordial  approval  and  support  of  the 
ministers  and  people  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church.  Some  of  them,  however,  were  of  foreio-n 
birth ;  and  though  they  had  no  sympathy  with  Eng- 
land, or  with  the  unrighteous  outrages  and  claims 
of  the  cabinet  of  St.  James  upon  American  rights, 
yet,  in  a  state  of  war,  they  were  liable,  especially 
in  the  cities  of  the  seaboard,  to  the  inconveniences 


WAR    OF    1812.  183 

of  being  treated  as  alien  enemies.  To  meet  this 
condition  of  things,  in  August,  1812,  Synod  had 
the  subject  before  them ;  and  in  accordance  with 
the  well  known  principles  of  the  Church,  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  states  or  nations  where  the  Bible  rev- 
elation is  known,  "  formally  to  recognize  the  sov- 
ereignty of  Messiah  over  all  persons  and  things,  and 
to  constitute  their  systems  of  government  upon 
principles  which  publicly  recognize  the  authority 
of  the  law  of  God,"  they  made  the  following  decla- 
ration :  "  This  Synod,  in  the  name  of  its  constituent 
members  and  of  the  whole  Church  w^hich  they  rep- 
resent, declare  that  they  approve  of  the  Eepublican 
form  of  the  civil  order  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  several  States  ;  that  they  prefer  this  nation  and 
its  government  to  any  other  nation  and  govern- 
ment ;  that  they  will  support  to  the  utmost  the 
independence  of  the  United  States,  and  the  several 
States,  against  all  foreign  aggressions  and  domestic 
factions,  and  disclaim  all  allegiance  to  any  foreign 
jurisdiction  whatsoever."  And  "  that  emigrants 
from  foreign  nations,  lest  they  should  be  esteemed 
aUen  enemies,  be  instructed  to  give  to  the  proper 
organ  of  this  government  the  following  assurance 
of  their  allegiance  to  this  empire,  each  one  for  him- 
self when  required." 

"I,  A.  B.,  do  solemnly  declare,  in  the  name  of 
the  Most  High  God,  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  that  I 
abjure  all  foreign  allegiance  whatsoever,  and  hold 
that  these  States,  and  the  United  States,  are,  and 


184  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

ought  to  be,  sovereign  and  independent  of  all  other 
nations  and  governments,  and  that  I  will  promote 
the  best  interests  of  this  empire,  maintain  its  inde- 
pendence, preserve  its  peace,  and  support  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  Union,  to  the  best  of  my  power." 

It  may,  in  this  place,  be  stated  as  a  fact,  not  with- 
out bearing  on  our  subsequent  history,  that  this 
solemn  pledge  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  authorized  by  Synod,  in  1812,  embraced  all 
the  essential  provisions  of  the  oath  of  allegiance  pre- 
scribed by  Congress,  and  more  emphatically  than  it 
does*  The  conviction  of  this  prevented  the  com- 
mittee of  Synod,  appointed  to  bring  the  case  before 
Congress,  from  troubling  that  body  or  themselves 
with  the  matter. 

To  assert,  as  some  have  done  who  know  better, 
that  this  action  of  Synod  was  done  in  "secret  ses- 
sion," is  to  contradict  matter  of  fact,  and  to  falsify 
history.  The  assertion  is  not  true.  On  August  12, 
1812,  the  committee,  composed  of  three  of  the 
oldest  ministers  of  the  Church,  was  appointed  in 
open  court  to  consider  and  report  upon  the  subject. 
On  August  14th,  the  committee,  in  open  court, 
unanimously  reported.  The  subject  was  discussed 
in  open  court,  the  report  upon  it  amended,  and 
unanimously  adopted.  About  the  business  there 
was  no  secrecy.  It  may,  however,  be  noticed  that 
the   known    principles  of  Reformed   Presbyterians, 

*  Such   was    the    opinion  of  a  late  Attorney  General  of  the  United 
States,  as  distinguished  as  a  jurist,  as  he  is  for  moral  worth. 


DISCOURSES    ON    THE    WAR.  185 

though  aliens,  which  some  of  them  were,  secured 
them  against  all  suspicion  of  being  inimical  to  the 
country  or  its  government.  The  ground  of  this 
security  was  powerfully  brought  into  view  in  a 
series  of  "Discourses  on  the  War,"  by  Eev.  Dr. 
Alexander  McLeod,  one  of  the  ministers  of  this 
church,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  while  that  com- 
mercial emporium  was  blockaded  by  the  tleet  of 
the  enemy. 

That  series  of  "Discourses,"  published  at  the 
time,  treated  the  subject  in  the  light  of  the  princi- 
ples of  the  law  of  nature,  the  law  of  nations,  and 
that  of  the  Bible,  and  was  by  far  the  ablest  defence 
of  the  justice  and  necessity  of  that  war  which 
appeared  from  the  press,  whether  in  papers  of 
state  or  in  other  forms.  The  effect  of  those  Dis- 
courses upon  the  public  rnind  was  remarkably  great. 
The  consciences  of  the  friends  of  their  country,  and 
they  were  not  few,  which  had  been  disturbed  by 
the  representations,  on  the  part  of  the  opposers  of 
their  own  government  and  the  apologists  of  Eng- 
land, of  Great  Britain  being  the  "  bulwark  of  our 
holy  religion,"  —  "  the  headquarters  of  the  Son  of 
God,"  —  and,  "  that  to  make  war  upon  her  was  to 
be  in  hostility  against  heaven,"  —  we  say,  the  con- 
sciences of  good  men  that  had  by  such  declarations 
been  disturbed,  were  by  these  "  Discourses  on  the 
War"  set  at  rest.  The  accomplished,  able,  and 
patriotic  author  intended  his  discussions  to  be  a 
vindication  of  the  American  cause  against  the  ag- 


186  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

gressions  and  unrighteous  claims  of  England  ;  but 
at  the  same  time  he  had  higher  aims,  which  the 
mere  politician  did  not  see,  and  for  which  he  did 
not  care.  Historical  justice  to  the  distinguished 
author,  and  to  the  Church  of  which  he  w^as  a  min- 
ister, demands  that  of  this,  w^iich  he  himself  at  the 
time  avowed,  a  distinct  record  should  be  made. 

With  his  defence  of  the  great  principles  of  na- 
tional rights  and  laws  Dr.  McLeod  incorporated  the 
higher  principle  of  political  and  religious  morality. 
The  state  and  its  affairs  he  held  up  as  connected 
with  the  throne  of  God.  In  the  settling  and  rightly 
directing  the  public  mind,  he  contemplated  the  ex- 
tension of  the  knowledge  and  authority  of  the  great 
moral  truths  of  social  order,  imbued  by  the  spirit 
of  the  gospel,  and  promotive  of  the  interests  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ.  To  the  development  of  these 
principles  the  war  gave  occasion ;  the  occasion  he 
embraced,  and  in  so  doing  was  persuaded  that, 
while  pleading  the  cause  and  vindicating  the  inter- 
ests of  his  country,  he  was  serving  his  Master, 
Christ. 

This  war,  which  so  greatly  contributed  to  the  in- 
terests, safety,  and  reputation  of  the  country,  gave 
occasion  to  bring  the  people  of  the  Reformed  Pres- 
byterian Church  and  the  civil  state  into  nearer 
contact.  That  state  whose  cause  they  pleaded,  for 
which  they  appeared  in  arms  on  the  high  places  of 
the  field,  which  they,  in  the  day  of  embarrassment, 
helped  to   sustain    by  their    loans,  and    for  whose 


DISCOURSES    ON    THE    WAR.  187 

safety  and  prosperity  they  prayed  at  the  throne  of 
God,  they  could  not  lightly  esteem,  feeling  as  they 
did,  that  it  was  their  own ;  where  in  person  and 
property,  and  in  rights,  civil  and  religious,  they  had 
full  protection.  To  the  evils  of  their  country,  neg- 
ative and  positive,  they  were  not  blind,  of  none  of 
her  moral  delinquencies  did  they  approve,  nor  to 
any  of  them  give  a  pledge  of  support. 

The  detail  of  flicts,  now  given,  evinces  a  modified 
character  of  the  institutions  of  the  country,  which 
was  met  by  us,  not  by  a  change  of,  or  departure 
from,  principle,  but  by  a  correspondent  qualifica- 
tion of  our  relations  to  the  modifications  of  the 
state.  We  have  seen  that  the  African  slave  trade 
was  abolished,  and  legally  declared  to  be  piracy ; 
slave  laws  were  repealed  and  slavery  abolished  in 
the  States  where  most  of  our  people  had  their 
abode  ;  new  States  were  rapidly  organized  where 
slavery  never  existed,  and  was  now  constitutionally 
prohibited  ;  thus  taking  away  the  principal  reason 
atrainst  servino:  on  iuries  in  our  courts  of  law.  In 
several  States,  the  highest  court-^  had  declared  the 
Christian  religion  to  be  the  religion  of  the  State, 
and  that  to  reproach  it  was  a  crime  against  public 
law.  thus  correcting  the  idea  of  the  government 
being;  infidel  in  its  character ;  in  the  mean  time  the 
nature  of  the  Federal  compact  was  more  perfectly 
developed,  and  the  character  of  the  bond  of  union 
among  the  States  better  understood.  For  ourselves, 
as  a  Church,  there  was  no  civil  or  religious  right 


188  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

that  could  be  demanded  which  we  had  not  already 
in  our  possession,  and  fully  guaranteed  by  public 
law.  These  movements  and  changes  were  noted 
by  the  fathers  of  the  Church,  and  to  meet  them  on 
their  part  by  a  correspondent  administration  was 
their  purpose.  Hence,  instead  of  standing  aloof 
from  all  civil  relations  and  actions,  we  have  the 
oath  of  allegiance  of  1812,  authorized  by  Synod  ;  we 
have  the  defence  from  our  pulpits  and  by  the  press, 
of  the  second  war  of  independence ;  that  war  sus- 
tained by  the  services  of  our  people  in  arms,  by 
their  loans  to  the  government,  and  by  their  prayers. 
We  have  likewise  the  instruction  of  the  Synod  in 
reference  to  jurors  —  not  a  prohibition  of  serving, 
as  such,  but  —  an  inquiry  to  be  made  as  to  the 
morality  or  immorality  of  the  code  of  law  that  gov- 
erned the  courts,  where  they  might  be  called  to 
act ;  and  that  followed  by  the  standing  avowal  that 
'•  no  connection  with  the  government  is  forbidden 
except  that  which  really  involves  immorality."  Thus 
there  was  a  progressive  endeavor  "  to  shape  the 
public  administrations"  of  the  Church  in  accordance 
wdth  her  true  position. 

These  modifications  were  cautiously  —  not  rash- 
ly—  recommended  by  the  senior  ministers  of  the 
Church,  who  had  carefully  observed  the  signs  of 
the  times,  and,  it  was  believed,  knew  what  Israel 
ought  to  do.  Of  the  course  pursued,  the  majority 
of  the  ministers  and  people  approved.  Some  of 
the  junior  brethren,  however, —  not  suspected  of  a 


MODIFICATIONS.  189 

profound  acquaintance  with  the  state  of  things, — 
professed  to  see  no  need  of  a  modified  "  shaping  of 
our  pubhc  poHcy;"  and  upon  them,  in  their  par- 
ticular locahties,  nothing  of  the  kind  was  ever  urged. 
Reflecting  men,  indeed,  saw  the  extreme  danger 
to  character  of  a  severance  from  any  of  the  social 
institutions  of  God,  as  that  of  the  civil  state ;  but,- 
upon  the  subject,  they  hoped  that  time  and  candid 
consideration  would  shed  a  satisfactory  light.  The 
younger  brethren,  just  referred  to,  found  motives 
in  the  case  for  an  extremity  of  zeal.  Diversity  of 
opinion  was  found  to  exist,  not  indeed  as  to  any 
principle  of  the  Church's  profession,  not  as  regarded 
any  ordinance  of  religious  worship,  not  as  respect- 
ed any  recognized  principle  of  morals  or  of  social 
order,  —  for  in  these  all  professed  to  be  agreed, — 
but  in  reference  to  the  civil  relations  of  Church 
members:  What  they  were,  what  they  ought  to  be, 
and  what  the  progressive  decisions  of  the  Church 
authorized  them  to  be.  That  no  connection  in- 
volving immorality  should  exist  was  a  settled  point, 
on  which  there,  was  no  dispute.  In  order  to  bring 
the  minds  of  all  to  a  state  of  harmony  on  the  single 
point  of  the  application  of  an  admitted  principle^  by 
a  clear  apprehension  of  what  Synod  had  already 
authorized,  or  might  consistently  yet  authorize,  the 
Synod  of  1831,  by  a  resolution,  recommended  what 
was  denominated  "Free  discussions"  of  the  matters 
in  question,  allowing  their  periodical — "  The  Ameri- 
can Christian  Expositor"  —  to  be  the  medium  of 


190  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

publication  to  such  as  might  see  proper  to  make  use 
of  it  for  that  end.  Of  this  some  took  advantage^ 
others  did  not.  The  measure  has  been  greatly 
blamed  by  the  dissatisfied  party  who  subsequently 
left  Synod,  though  it  was  their  own  proposal.  In 
1832,  a  pastoral  address  of  the  Eastern  Subordinate 
Synod,  to  the  people  under  their  charge,  w^as  adopted 
and  published.  In  the  original  draft  of  that  ad- 
dress, there  was  an  expression  of  an  opinion  of  the 
comparative  excellence  of  the  civil  institutions  of 
the  country,  of  which  a  majority  of  the  members 
approved,  though  some  of  that  majority,  along  with 
a  minority,  judged  it  to  be  inexpedient  to  give  it  a 
place  in  that  paper  or  at  that  time ;  and  so  decided 
by  their  vote,  making  a  majority,  not  against  the 
sentiment  of  that  part  of  the  address,  but  against 
the  expediency  of  its  formal  adoption  by  Synod  at 
the  time.  A  portion  of  those,  however,  who  thus 
voted  publicly,  expressed  a  wish  to  see  it  published 
by  private  authority.  It  w^as  so  published,  and,  in 
reality,  constituted  a  part  of  the  "Free  discussions" 
authorized  by  General  Synod.  For.  a  time,  by  all, 
the  publication  w^as  considered  to  be  harmless. 
Months  passed  without  any  marked  notice  of  the 
matter;  but  it  appeared  that  ends  not  previously 
avowed  were  to  be  accomplished,  and  the  publica- 
tion of  that  excepted  part  of  the  Synodical  address 
furnished  a  pretext  for  a  course  of  action,  perhaps 
unexampled  in  the  ecclesiastical  procedure  of  any 
Protestant  body,  for  its  injustice,  violence,  and  dis- 
rcLcard  of  order. 


FREE   DISCUSSION.  191 

The  subject,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  been  one 
of  familiar  conversation  for  years,  publicly  spoken 
of  on  the  floors  of  the  supreme  and  subordinate 
judicatories  of  the  Church,  and  for  the  public  con- 
sideration of  which  General  Synod  had  authorized 
"  Free  discussions,"  and  the  Synod's  periodical  as 
the  medium  of  publication.  It  was  not  under  the 
cognizance  of  any  inferior  judicatory,  but  was  ex- 
clusively in  the  power  of  the  supreme  authority 
of  the  Church.  But  it  seems  the  Church  must  be 
divided  !  The  publication  of  that  harmless  paper, 
fully  authorized  by  the  natural  and  religious  rights 
of  freemen,  as  well  as  by  the  deed  of  General  Synod 
already  mentioned,  was  violently  seized  as  a  pretext 
for  measures  that  would  issue  in  that  result.  By 
a  few  misguided  men,  influenced  by  motives  into 
which  we,  in  this  place,  do  not  inquire,  d^,  pro  re  nata 
meeting  of  the  Eastern  Subordinate  Synod  was 
called.  The  time  of  meeting,  in  winter,  was  un- 
seasonable ;  the  members  were  scattered  over  four 
States  of  the  Union,  some  of  them  hundreds  of  miles 
from  the  designated  place  of  meeting,  and  there 
was  no  reasonable  probability  of  a  general  attend- 
ance. By  those,  too,  most  competent  to  judge,  the 
call  was  viewed  as  disorderly  and  vexatious.  The 
late  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  McLeod,  having  previously 
subscribed  the  protest  against  the  meeting,  with  the 
other  brethren,  called  upon  the  pro  re  nata  men  at 
the  time  of  their  assembling,  not  to  sit  with  them 
as  a  member,  but  to  admonish  them  of  the  disorder 


192  HISTOKICAL    VIEW. 

of  their  course,  and  of  its  danger  to  the  peace  of 
the  Church  and  the  cause  of  true  reho-ion.  Havino; 
declared  that  "  their  whole  procedure  rested  on  an 
anti-presbyterial  innovation  which  he  could  not 
countenance/'  and  having  added,  with  emphasis, 
"  If  you  proceed  in  this  course  you  will  divide  the 
Church,  and  for  such  division,  if  it  take  place,  I 
shall  hold  you  responsible  to  God  and  posterity," 
he  left  the  house.  Bent  upon  their  evil  course, 
they  pressed  on.  The  stated  clerk  of  Synod,  be- 
cause he  refused  to  give  up  to  this  lawless  assem- 
blage the  minutes  of  that  body,  it  is  said,  by  a 
violent  and  summary  act,  they  declared  to  be  sus- 
pended from  the  ministry ;  and,  in  a  course  of 
corresponding  violence  and  disorder,  they  proceeded 
to  form  libels  against  their  absent  fathers  and 
brethren,  whom  they  supposed  to  have  consented 
to  the  publication  of  that  portion  of  the  "  original 
draft"  already  mentioned.  We  say  —  supposed  to 
have  consented,  —  for  they  proceeded  upon  presump- 
tion or  conjecture  in  the  matter,  never  having 
legal  proof  of  the  fact. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting,  those  men  of  the  pro  re 
nata,  in  the  absence  of  their  brethren,  who  without 
disQ^racino;  themselves  could  not  meet  and  associate 
with  them  because  of  their  violence  and  disorder, 
proceeded  to  adjudge  and  censure  them,  in  pur- 
suance of  the  libels  they  had  framed.  Upon  some 
of  the  fathers  on  whom  they  passed  their  censures 
of  suspension  from  the  ministry,  their  libels  had 


HASTY    ACTION.  193 

never  been  served,  and  of  the  service  of  most  of 
them  upon  the  accused,  as  in  the  case  before  men- 
tioned, they  had  no  proof  They  acted  upon  con- 
jecture and  in  a  summary  manner,  not  inquiring 
into  the  particuhirs  of  the  case.  Their  moderator, 
Eev.  William  Gibson,  who,  through  infirmity  of 
purpose  and  not  from  desire  of  heart,  continued 
with  them  for  a  time,  refused  to  act  in  the  evil 
work  of  suspending  his  brethren.  He  "  declared 
that  the  whole  proceedings,  in  matter  and  in  man- 
ner, were  wrong  ; "  that  "  in  the  evil  deed  he  could 
have  no  hand ; "  and  leaving  the  moderator's  chair, 
for  the  time,  he  left  the  house.  Such  was  his  own 
avowal,  before  witnesses,  on  the  following  day. 

This  lawless  deed  was  universally  condemned, 
the  loro  re  rata  men  themselves  excepted.  When 
the  report  of  it  came  before  the  Eeformed  Synod 
of  Scotland,  that  veneraj)le  body  expressed  their 
disapproval  of  the  proceeding,  declaring  it  to  be 
rash^  uncalled  for,  disorderly^  and  such  as  they  could 
not  recognize  or  approve.'-' 

It  is  remarkable  that  some  of  those  men  of  the 
pro  re  nata,  who  were  active   in  this  persecution, 

*  This  General  Synod  and  the  Scottish  Synod  are  united  in  the  pro- 
fession of  the  great  cause  of  the  covenanted  Reformation,  as  co-ordinate 
departments  of  the  Reformed  Preshyterian  Church,  recogniznig  as  the 
basis  of  their  union  the  same  permanent  standards,  supreme  and  sub- 
ordinate. The  application  of  the  principles  of  those  standards,  accord- 
ing to  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  Church  in  tlie  localities  of  the 
several  countries  of  Europe,  America,  or  Asia,  where  the  Church  is 
found,  is  left  to  the  Synods  respectively,  without  any  authoritative  in- 
terference with  each  other,  in  actual  administration. 

13 


194  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

agreed  in  principle  with,  and  in  practice  upon  that 
principle,  went  farther  than  those  they  so  zealously 
prosecuted.  Some  of  them  who  urged  on  to  the 
violent  acts  never  would  themselves  vote  for  them, 
but  declared  themselves,  "in  the  main  question," 
to  be  with  those  whom  they  thus  followed  with  a 
lawless  discipline.  All  this  course  of  disorder  was 
pursued  within  a  few  months  of  the  meeting  of 
General  Synod,  to  whom  cognizance  of  the  whole 
matter  entirely  belonged.  And,  as  will  appear, 
when  that  judicatory  did  act  upon  it,  the  whole 
course  of  the  loro  re  nata  movement  was  condemned 
as  disorderly  and  unjust,  and  the  objects  of  its  per- 
secution justified  in  their  conduct. 

The  approaching  Synod  was  looked  to  by  many 
as  likely  to  harmonize  the  whole  affair;  and  had 
all  met,  as  far  as  the  preservation  of  the  Church 
from  an  unnatural  and  simple  rupture  was  con- 
cerned, that  w^ould  have  been  the  result.  But  those 
men  who  were  bent  upon  a  separation  had  gone 
too  far  to  retrace  their  steps.  In  their  activity 
they  were  unceasing,  and  in  their  measures  un- 
scrupulous. By  their  long-continued  secret  missals, 
and  their  willing  agents,  —  ministers  without  pasto- 
ral charges,  —  gross  misrepresentations  had  gone 
abroad,  by  which  the  unsuspecting  minds  of  good 
men  at  a  distance  were  bewildered.  To  augment 
their  numbers  candidates  for  the  ministry  were 
hurried  forward,  and  sine  iilxdo  ordained,  and  it  is 
believed,  some  of  them  in  violation  of  ecclesiastical 
order. 


SYNOD    OF    1833.  195 

On  August  7th,  1833,  according  to  appointment, 
General  Synod  assembled  in  Eleventh  Street 
Church,  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia.  When  the 
Moderator  of  the  last  meeting,  according  to  usual 
custom,  arose  to  open  the  court,  he  was  interrupted 
by  one  of  the  men  of  the  'pro  re  nata  combination, 
announcing  himself  to  be  the  Clerk  of  Synod,  while 
the  stated  Clerk,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Black,  against  whom 
that  combination  had  no  charge,  in  possession  of 
the  books  and  papers  of  Synod,  was  in  his  place  at 
the  table  ;  and  another  of  them  proclaimed  himself 
to  be  the  Moderator,  while  the  regular  Moderator 
was  present,  in  his  place,  and,  upon  his  feet,  about 
to  engage  in  the  appointed  service  of  the  occasion. 
The  pro  re  nata  men  then  arose  and  left  the  house, 
in  a  disorderly  manner,  calling  upon  "  all  the  f^xith- 
fal"  to  follow  them  to  a  designated  j)lace.  Synod, 
in  possession  of  their  officers,  —  Moderator,  Clerk, 
Assistant  Clerk,  and  all  the  documents  of  the  court, 
at  the  appointed  place  and  hour,  being  assembled, 
proceeded  in  the  usual  order.  Synod  being  con- 
stituted, the  way  was  prepared  for  the  transaction 
of  business. 

Those  men  who  thus  departed  in  a  disorderly 
manner,  on  the  7th  of  August,  were  duly  sum- 
moned to  return  to  their  place  and  duty.  Upon 
their  refusal  to  comply,  the  whole  subject  of  the 
pro  re  nata  doings  was,  by  a  report  of  the  Eastern 
Subordinate  Synod,  brought  before  the  Supreme 
Judicatory,  and,  after   a  very  full    discussion    and 


196  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

examinatiorij  was  unanimously  condemned.  Those 
engaged  in  that  evil  work  having  left  us,  by  their 
own  act  made  the  separation,  and  Synod  declared 
them  to  be  no  longer  in  their  connection,  and 
ordered  their  names  to  be  stricken  from  the  roll  of 
their  members.  Synod  made  no  attempt  of  retal- 
iating their  violent  doings  upon  them. 

Thus  needlessly  and  unexpectedly,  in  a  spas- 
modic act  of  moral  disorder,  a  schism  was  made  in 
the  Church.  A  rash  combination  of  several  of  the 
younger  men  sought  the  expulsion,  from  the  Church 
and  her  ministrj^  of  the  senior  members  of  Synod 
who  had  laid  upon  them  ordaining  hands  ;  those 
fathers,  whose  intelligence,  zeal,  and  labors  had 
given  a  reorganization  to  the  Church,  extended  her 
boundaries,  and  given  her  character,  must,  with 
their  orderly  younger  brethren,  be  degraded  from 
their  sacred  office,  expelled  from  their  beloved 
labors,  and  be  cast  out  from  the  communion  of 
saints!  And  for  what?  What  was  their  crime? 
What  ?  Certainly  there  was  no  departure  from  any 
article  of  the  Church's  faith  ;  no  act  of  immorality 
with  which  to  charge  them  ;  no  charge  of  the  vio- 
lation of  ecclesiastical  order  could  be  sustained 
against  them?  No  neglect  of  Ministerial  duty,  as 
Pastors,  to  be  alleged  against  them  ?  What  then  I 
Simply  this:  It  was  supposed  —  and  it  was  with 
those  men  a  supposition  only,  —  for  of  it  they  had 
no  legal  evidence  —  It  was  su})posed  that  an  article, 
in  itself  very  brief  and  harmless,  expressing  a  cotn- 


CIVIL   INSTITUTIONS.  197 

Ijaratively  favorable  opinion  of  the  civil  institutions 
of  the  United  States,  had  been  published  by  them, 
or  with  their  approbation  —  an  article,  the  subject 
of  which  Synod  had  authorized  to  be  freely  dis- 
cussed, and  the  matter  of  which  had  the  appro- 
bation of  some  of  the  ][>ro  re  nata  men  themselves  ! 

And  what  was,  at  the  time  of  the  departure  of 
those  men,  the  actual  point  of  difference  ?  Past 
doubt,  no  settled  principle  of  our  ecclesiastical  pro- 
fession. The  then  disputed  question  was  simply 
this :  Shall  the  lawless  and  disorderly  acts  of  the 
pro  re  nata  meeting  be  recognized  as  legal  and 
valid  ?  That  was  then  really  the  dividing  point. 
That  out  of  the  way,  and  all  stood  on  the  same 
platform  of  1831.  Of  those  lawless  deeds,  no  such 
recognition  could  be  given ;  and  such  recognition, 
we  are  well  assured.  General  Synod  would  never 
have  either  required  or  approved. 

Changes  in  the  state  of  civil  institutions,  we 
have  seen,  gave  occasion  to  modified  views  of  the 
duties  of  Church  members,  in  reference  to  those 
institutions.  Synod,  at  sundry  times  and  in  different 
manners,  in  answer  to  inquiries,  indicated  what,  in 
agreeableness  with  the  principles  of  the  Church, 
might  be  done,  according  to  the  circumstance  of 
the  case,  but  enjoined  no  deviation  from  the  usual 
practice  upon  any.  Those  brethren  had  never  been 
required  to  modify  any  usage,  nor  did  any  ever 
propose  to  justify  an  act  not  authorized  by  some 
enactment  of  Synod,  to  whom  the  entire  disposal 


198  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

of  the  whole  matter  pertained.  By  the  surreptitious 
intermeddling  with  that  which  did  not  belong  to 
them,  the  doings  of  those  men  were  lawless;  and 
because  they  apprehended  that  General  Synod 
would  not  sanction  their  anomalous  acts,  they  re- 
fused to  meet  with  them.  But  we  forbear  to  enter 
into  the  ungracious  details  of  a  course  of  conduct, 
for  its  violence  and  disorder,  rarely,  if  ever,  exampled 
in  the  records  of  the  Presbyterian  administration. 
This  would  lead  to  a  development  of  probable,  if 
not  certain,  motives,  that  it  may  be  as  well  to  leave 
veiled  from  public  view.  These  rash  deeds  divided 
the  Church,  separated  brethren  who  loved  each 
other,  and  who,  but  for  grievous  misrepresentations, 
could  still  have  co-operated  in  carrying  forward  the 
common  cause. 

Since  the  departure  of  these  individuals  from  us, 
there  has  no  notice  been  publicly  taken  of  them,  or 
of  their  violent  assaults  upon  us,  by  General  Synod. 
We  have  contented  ourselves  in  going  forward, 
under  divine  guidance  as  is  trusted,  in  the  possession 
and  profession  of  our  excellent  unchanged  stan- 
dards, which  those  men  saw  fit  industriously  to  rep- 
resent us  as  having  abandoned.  The  hoped  for 
aims  of  the  ])ro  re  natans  were  not  attained.  The 
pastors  whom  they  had  chiefly  assailed  were  ad- 
hered to  by  their  congregations,  the  existing  or- 
ganizations not  being  seriously,  and  some  of  them 
not  at  all,  affected  by  the  departure  of  some  dis- 
satisfied members.     To  many,  if  not  all,  of  those 


CIVIL    GOVERNMENT.  199 

congregations,  the  agitation  was  manifestly  sancti- 
fied, as  evinced  in  an  increased  seriousness  of  mind, 
advance  in  spirituality  of  character,  and  in  the  good 
works  of  practical  religion.  The  Church  in  general, 
it  is  believed,  in  living  religion,  was  brought  nearer 
to  her  Redeemer,  than  in  the  immediately  previous 
years.  The  reputation  of  the  ministers  who  had 
been  so  unscrupulously  assailed,  suffered  nothing  in 
public  estimation  from  the  unfounded  assaults  made 
upon  them.  The  Lord  whom  they  humbly  served 
extended  over  them  the  shield  of  his  protection. 

This  breach  we  greatly  lament.  We  have,  by  no 
act  of  ours,  put  any  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  heal- 
ing of  it.  They  went  out  from  us.  When  they 
retrace  their  steps,  meet  us  on  the  same  platform 
where  all  stood  in  1831,  and  give  reasonable  assur- 
ance that  the  disorderly  scenes  of  1832  and  1833 
shall  not  again  be  re-enacted  by  them,  we  will  read- 
ily open  the  door  for  their  admission. 

That  there  might  be  no  misapprehension  by 
friends  abroad  of  the  principles  still  held  by  the 
Church,  on  the  subject  of  the  late  agitation,  the 
following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  reported 
by  a  committee  appointed  for  the  purpose,  and 
adopted  by  General  Synod,  in  1835  :  — 

"  The  doctrine  of  the  Church,  in  reference  to  civil  govern- 
ment, is  stated  in  her  standards  with  so  much  precision,  brev- 
ity, and  clearness,  that  any  statement  more  satisfactory  in  a 
report,  may  be  justly  desjDaired  of.  It  is  felt,  too,  that  in  ad- 
verting to  the  writings  of  approved  advocates  of  the  Church's 


200  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

testimony,  there  is  danger  of  intermingling  the  private  opin- 
ion  of  individuals  with  the  public  authorized  faith  of  the 
Church,  and  thereby  giving  occasion  to  perplexity  in  the  minds 
of  her  members,  rather  than  a  clear  perception  of  the  articles 
of  her  creed.  Past  experience  admonishes  us  of  the  danger 
on  this  quarter.  The  particular  care  and  caution  of  the  su- 
preme judicatory,  in  repeated  warnings,  that  neither  the 
Church's  narative  of  her  progress,  nor  even  her  own  author- 
ized argument  in  defence  of  her  creed,  should  be  incorporated 
with  that  creed,  or  be  allowed  a  place  in  her  terms  of  fellow- 
shijD,  have  not,  in  times  past,  been  so  regarded  as  to  save  her, 
on  that  head,  from  distraction.  To  confound  subjects  so  dis- 
tinct must  be  productive  of  mischief  Apprised  of  this  dan- 
ger, and  endeavoring  to  guard  against  it,  in  compliance  with 
the  appointment  of  Synod,  the  adoption  of  the  following  res- 
olutions is  respectfully  recommended,  as  the  result  of  our  in- 
quiry:— 

'•'-Resolved^  I.  That  civil  society,  together  with  its  order, 
has  its  foundation  in  the  natural  constitution  of  man,  and  his 
external  relationships  in  life,  being  instituted  by  the  Creator 
and  Ruler  of  the  world,  immediately  for  the  good  of  man, 
and  ultimately  for  the  divine  glory;  that  the  principles  of 
God's  moral  law  are  the  supreme  standard  according  to  which 
human  society  is  obhged  to  regulate  and  conduct  its  affairs  ; 
and  that,  for  this  end,  its  members  are  under  obligation  to 
embrace  the  clearest  discoveries  of  those  principles  to  which 
they  have  access. 

"  II.  That  the  principles  of  the  moral  law  of  nature,  and 
those  of  the  law  revealed  in  the  Scriptures  of  truth,  are  funda- 
mentally the  same  ;  and  that  the  moral  qualifications  of  civil 
society  and  its  order,  required  by  the  law  of  nature,  are  radi- 
cally identical  with  those  required  in  the  Scripture  revelation. 

"  III.  That  while  care  should  be  taken  to  guard  Christians 
against  rejecting  legitimate  authority,  because  not  possessed 
of  every  desirable  attribute  or  provision,  equal  care  ought  to  be 
taken  to  guard  society  against  resting  in  low  attainments  in 


TESTIMONY    AGAINST    DEFECTS.  201 

the  moral  character  of  its  institutions ;  and  that  it  is  the 
bounden  duty  of  civil  society,  according  to  the  light  furnished 
it  by  the  Bible  revelation,  in  a  progressive  course  of  moral 
and  religious  reformation  upon  Bible  principles,  to  endeavor 
the  improvement  of  its  institutions,  thereby  fitting  them  to  at- 
tain the  ends  of  the  social  organization. 

"  TV.  That  when  a  state,  in  correspondence  with  its  obli- 
gations, has  formed  its  constitution  according  to  principles  of 
high  moral  and  religious  attainments,  placing  its  frame  of 
order  in  subordination  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  Prince  of  tlie  kings 
of  the  earth,  and  by  solemn  oath  and  covenant  engaged  to 
maintain  such  constitution  and  frame  of  order,  it  cannot  inno- 
cently recede  from  them ;  much  less  can  it  adopt  in  their  place 
institutions  founded  upon  contrary  principles,  without  incur- 
ring the  guilt  of  covenant-breaking  and  perjury. 

"  V.  That  in  a  land  where  peculiar  religious  characteris- 
tics have  never  been  extensively  introduced  into  civil  deeds 
of  constitution ;  where  there  is  no  apostasy  from  established 
and  sworn-to  reformation ;  where  the  constitutional  evils  com- 
plained of  are  simply  omissions,  not  fundamental  to  the  exist- 
ence and  essential  operations  of  civil  society;  where  no 
moral  engagement  is  required,  and  no  pledge  either  demanded 
or  given,  to  approve  of^  or  perpetuate  defects ;  where  funda- 
mental principles  of  the  social  state,  moral  in  their  nature,  are 
adopted ;  where  a  testimony  against  defects  is  admitted,  and 
the  way  left  open,  constitutionally,  to  employ  all  moral  means 
to  obtain  a  remedying  of  defects,  the  same  obstacles  stand 
not  in  the  way  of  the  Christian's  entrance  into  civil  com- 
munion, as  do  in  a  land  where  such  religious  characteristics 
having  been  adopted,  covenanted,  and  sworn  to,  but  having 
been  departed  from,  upon  the  ruins  of  a  reformed  system,  one 
of  an  opposite  character  has  been  introduced.  And  further, 
that,  under  a  testimony  against  defects,  circumstanced  as 
above  stated,  the  Christian  may  consistently  enter  into  the 
civil  fellowship  of  the  country  where  he  resides,  using  his  lib- 
erty upon  a  moral  basis,  to  seek  the  improvement  of  the  so- 
cial state. 


202  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

"  VI.  That  the  civil  arrangements  of  any  state,  being  in 
actual  conformity  with  the  principles  of  moral  rectitude,  an 
inquiry  into  the  secret  princij^les  and  motives  of  those  engaged 
in  the  formation  of  those  arrangements,  should  not  be  permit- 
ted to  raise  any  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  concurrence  of 
Christians,  to  direct  them  to  their  proper  ends. 

"  VII.  That  this  Church  has  raised,  and  continues  to  di- 
rect, the  voice  of  her  testimony  against  all  known  moral  de- 
fects and  practical  immoralities  found  in  the  institutions  and 
administrations  of  the  United  States,  at  the  same  time  warn- 
ing her  members  against  giving  any  pledge  or  countenance  to 
public  immorality. 

"VIII.  That  the  acts  and  legislation  of  this  Church  have, 
at  all  times,  authorized  all  connection  with  the  civil  society 
and  institutions  of  the  United  States,  which  does  not  involve 
immorality. 

"IX.  That  the  legislative  provisions,  and  judicial  institu- 
tions  under  them,  in  the  several  States  of  the  Union,  are  both 
too  numerous,  and  too  variable,  for  the  supreme  judicatory  of 
this  Church  ever  too  examine,  and  legislate  upon  them  in  de- 
tail; and  that  much,  consequently,  has  been,  and  must  be  left 
to  the  discretion  of  local  adjudication,  according  to  the  known 
principles  of  our  standards,  to  be  approved  of  or  condemned, 
as  the  case  may  require. 

"  X.  That  as  it  is  the  duty  of  this  Church,  so  it  is  the  pur- 
pose of  her  ministers  and  members,  to  mark  the  modifications 
and  changes  of  the  institutions  and  administrations  of  the 
country,  and,  in  their  respective  places,  faithfully  to  adapt  the 
application  of  their  testimony  to  the  actual  state  of  society. 

"  XI.  That  though  civil  society  and  its  governmental  insti- 
tutions be  not  founded  in  grace,  yet  it  is  the  duty  of  Chris- 
tians to  endeavor  to  bring  over  civil  states  the  influence  of 
the  grace  of  the  gospel,  and  to  persuade  such  states  to  put 
themselves  in  subordination  to  Immanuel,  for  the  protection 
and  furtherance  of  the  interests  of  religion  and  liberty. 

"XII.     That  civil  society  being  a  voluntary  association. 


FOREIGN   MISSION.  203 

though  it  may  be  both  lawful  and  dutiful  to  enter  fully  into  its 
fellowship,  yet  none  can  be  warrantably  compelled  to  do  so. 

"XIII.  That  the  standing  terms  of  fellowship,  in  this 
Chm'ch,  are  the  sacred  Scriptures  as  the  supreme  rule  of  faith 
and  manners,  the  great  principles  of  which  are  embraced  in 
the  attainments  of  the  covenanted  reformation,  as  embodied 
in  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  Catechisms,  larger 
and  shorter,  Refonnation  Principles  exhibited — the  Testimony 
of  the  Chm-ch  —  toojether  with  the  solemn  covenant  oblio:a- 
tions  of  the  Church  to  God  and  one  another,  to  abide  by  and 
maintain  the  doctrine,  worship,  and  order,  unfolded  in  tliese 
documents ;  recognizing,  as  brethren,  in  every  land,  all  those 
who  continue  to  witness  in  behalf  of  those  attainments  of  the 
reformation ;  to  the  exclusion,  as  terms  of  communion,  of 
all  historical  details  and  arguments,  private  or  public." 

Engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  the  domestic  field, 
whose  boundaries  were  extending  over  the  wide- 
spread and  fertile  regions  of  our  country,  the 
Church  was  not  regardless  of  the  wilderness  of  the 
Pagan  world.  At  an  early  period  the  subject  of 
foreio;n  missions  had  been. before  us,  but  nothing: 
was  definitely  effected  by  Synod  before  1835,  when, 
the  Rev.  James  E.  Campbell  and  Mrs.  Campbell 
were  sent  as  missionaries  to  Northern  India.  In 
the  course  of  the  two  following  years  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Caldwell  and  Mr.  James  Craig,  a  ruling 
Elder,  with  their  wives,  joined  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Camp- 
bell at  the  mission  station  of  Saharanpur.  In  pur- 
suance of  Synodical  direction,  a  Presbytery  in 
subordination  to  the  Supreme  Judicatory,  was  by 
those  brethren  constituted  upon  heathen  ground. 
And  in  1848  they  were  strengthened  by  the  acces- 


204  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

sion  to  their  number  of  the  Rev.  John  S.  Woodside, 
a  young  gentleman  of  high  promise,  who,  with 
Mrs.  Woodside,  had  devoted  himself  to  the  cause 
of  missions  in  a  foreign  land. 

In  the  study  of  the  native  languages  of  India; 
in  the  making  of  translations  of  the  Scriptures  and 
other  valuable  works  into  those  languages  ]  in  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  and  conducting  of  schools, 
which  at  an  early  period  of  their  mission  they 
opened,  those  brethren  have  been  abundant  in 
labors,  and,  through  the  Divine  countenance,  with 
a  degree  of  success  which  has  surpassed  the  expec- 
tations of  the  frie.nds  of  the  missionary  enterprise. 
The  evidence  of  that  success  is  found  in  their 
Church  organizations,  in  the  number  and  character 
of  their  scholars,  and  in  the  efficiency  and  value  of 
the  native  teachers  educated  by  them,  and  em- 
ployed in  their  schools.  Through  the  instrumen- 
tality of  those  missionaries,  natives  of  Hindostan 
have  been  brought  into  the  fellowship  of  the  House 
of  God,  and,  it  is  hoped,  constituted  heirs  of  eter- 
nal life. 

Under  the  influence  of  an  Asiatic  climate,  in 
the  midst  of  their  great  and  well-directed  labors, 
Mr.  Craig  and  Mrs.  Caldwell,  at  an  early  period, 
finished  their  course  on  earth.  Their  death  was 
sensibly  felt  and  deeply  lamented  by  their  sur- 
vivors ;  but  to  Him  whom  they  serve,  whose  they 
are,  and  with  whom  is  the  residue  of  the  Spirit, 
they  were  taught  by  the    sad  event  with  greater 


.     NORTHERN   INDIA.  205 

earnestness  to  look,  and  in  His  promise  with  a 
firmer  faith  to  confide.  Amidst  many  personal 
trials  and  domestic  afflictions,  they  have  been  very 
graciously  sustained.  This  mission,  the  history  of 
which  will  be  found  in  its  proper  place,  is  still  in  a 
flourishing  condition ;  and  in  its  intellectual,  moral, 
and  religious  results,  its  friends  have  been  more 
than  compensated  for  the  liberality  of  their  con- 
tributions to  its  support.  Those  happy  results 
have  been  experienced  not  only  in  Northern  India, 
but  likewise  upon  our  own  ecclesiastical  and  per- 
sonal interests  at  home,  in  the  awakening  of  an 
active  and  expansive  religious  zeal. 

Our  financial  contributions  for  the  support  of 
this  mission,  by  an  arrangement  between  our  Board 
of  Missions  and  that  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  —  0.  S.,  —  are,  without 
expense  to  us,  transmitted  through  the  medium  of 
the  latter.  This  obliging  accommodation  of  finan- 
cial arrangement  affects  not  the  ecclesiastical  re- 
lations of  our  missionaries.  And,  indeed,  among 
the  moral  and  spiritual  desolations  of  Hindostan, 
for  the  mere  partisan  zeal  of  the  Church  in  Europe 
and  America,  there  is  not,  and  will  not  soon  be 
much  place  found.  Acute  and  metaphysical  as  the 
educated  Hindoo  mind  is,  it  must  be  long  before  it 
can  take  much  interest  in  many  of  the  forms  of 
our  party  conflicts;  and  when  the  time  comes  in 
which  a  knowledge  of  their  disputes  would  be  un- 
derstood by  the  Asiatic,  it  is  hoped  they  will  be 
found  only  in  the  records  of  history  at  home. 


20G  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

And  here  it  is  becoming  to  notice  another  de- 
partment of  Missionary  labor  in  which  the  Church 
has  eno:ao^ed,  and  which  is  now  in  a  condition  of 
encouraging  success.  The  Rev.  Alexander  Clarke, 
who  originally  came  to  the  British  Provinces  of 
New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia,  as  a  Missionary 
of  tlie  Reformed  Presbyterian  Synod  in  Ireland, 
having  labored  for  many  years  alone  in  that  coun- 
try, was  at  length  received  into  the  connection  of 
the  General  Synod  in  the  United  States.  Two 
additional  Missionaries  have  been  sent  to  his  aid, 
and  consent  has  been  given  to  these  brethren  to 
form  a  Presbytery  in  connection  with  General 
Synod.  To  the  senior  Missionary,  the  pioneer  of 
Presbyterianism  in  a  large  section  of  the  Provinces, 
the  past  twenty  years  have  been  a  season  of  un- 
common labor,  self-denial,  and  unflinching  perse- 
verance in  the  midst  of  difficulties.  But  the  re- 
ward is  seen  already  in  the  progress  of  Reforma- 
tion principles,  in  flourishing  churches,  extensive 
influence  for  good  on  a  large  community,  and  many 
other  evidences  of  the  Master's  approbation  of  the 
works  of  his  servant.  Even  now  "  the  sower  and 
the  reaper  rejoice  together." 

This,  perhaps,  is  the  proper  place  to  notice  the 
proposal,  made  to  Synod,  of  a  correspondence  with 
that  venerable  body,  one  of  the  strong  and  ancient 
pillars  of  the  Reformation,  the  General  Synod  of 
the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church,  in  the 
United  States.     The  proposal  was  made  and  agreed 


ATTEMPTS    AT    UNION.  207 

to  in  1837.  The  general  principle  of  the  plan  was 
similar  to  that  proposed  in  the  case  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  ten  years 
before;  but  somewhat  less  definite  in  its  provis- 
ions. It  was  adopted  by  both  bodies,  and  the  cor- 
respondence pleasantly  conducted  till  1843,  when 
it  was  suspended,  but  without  any  change  in  the 
mutual  Christian  regards  of  the  parties.  The  sus- 
pension of  the  intercourse  was  some  way  connected 
with  a  misapprehension  on  the  part  of  one  of  the 
delegates  of  that  Synod,  in  reference  to  the  prac- 
tice of  this  Church  in  the  matter  of  sacramental 
communion.  According  to  our  views  of  it,  it  is 
not  a  mere  Christian  ordinance,  like  prayer,  praise, 
and  other  private  institutes;  but  has  likewise  an 
ecclesiastical  character,  and  thus  belongs  to  Church 
members  who  are  under  responsibility  to  the 
authorities  of  the  body,  in  accordance  with  the 
organical  law  of  the  Church.  We  view  sacramen- 
tal communion  as  an  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  a  Chris- 
tian privilege.  In  the  plan  of  this  correspondence 
there  was  no  provision  to  meet  the  case,  suppos- 
ing, on  our  part,  that  the  thing  was  well  un- 
derstood. 

In  the  several  departments  of  the  Church  of  the 
Reformation  there  is  a  remarkable  coincidence  in 
the  fundamental  articles  of  their  religious  faith ; 
and  among  those  of  the  Presbyterian  family,  gen- 
erally, a  very  extensive  agreement  in  the  forms  of 
their  worship   and   order.     Papal  Eome  boasts  of 


208  -  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

her  unity  ;  but  in  expansion,  compact  firmness,  and 
spiritual  oneness,  the  platform  on  which  stand  the 
several  portions  of  the  Eeformed  Church,  is  infi- 
nitely superior.  But  to  the  accommodating  policy 
of  a  worldly  sanctuary,  which  gives  a  marked  char- 
acter to  the  papal  system,  the  Church  of  the  Refor- 
mation is  to  a  great  extent  a  stranger.  The  prom- 
inence given  and  the  importance  attached  by  many 
of  her  members  to  truth,  under  the  several  aspects 
of  its  relations  and  applications,  in  the  present  im- 
perfect state  of  man,  seem  to  interfere  with  the 
visibility  of  her  real  union,  and,  at  least  appar- 
ently, to  interfere  with  the  harmony  of  her  coun- 
sels and  the  efficiency  of  her  administrations.  The 
evils  arising  out  of  this  state  of  the  affairs  of  Zion 
have  long  been  sensibl}^  felt,  and  hence  the  well- 
meant  but  vain  attempts,  during  the  past  three 
hundred  years,  to  effect  their  removal.  In  this 
matter  Calixtus  and  Melancthon,  in  their  disap- 
pointments, stand  not  alone. 

The  attempt  lately  made,  by  some  Ecclesiastical 
bodies,  to  effect  a  union  through  means  of  con- 
ventions, has  a  claim  upon  our  notice,  as  well 
because  of  our  connection,  for  a  time,  with  the 
movement,  as  to  guard  the  future  historian  against 
misapprehensions  and  consequent  misstatements, 
arising  from  a  defective  acquaintance  .with  the 
facts  of  the  case.  The  parties  in  this  movement 
were  a  portion  of  the  Associate  Reformed  brethren, 
the  Associate  Church,  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 


ATTEMPTS    AT    UNION.  209 

Church,  and  the  Dissenting  Presbytery.     The  fol- 
lowing- are  the  leadino;  facts  of  the  transaction. 

Under  date  of  July  29.  1833,  a  worthy  minister, 
and  very  excellent  man,  of  the  Associate  Reformed 
Synod  of  the  West,  addressed  a  member  of  the 
General  Reformed  Presbyterian  Synod  upon  the 
subject  of  union  between  the  two  bodies.  The 
w^orthy  writer  of  the  letter  says,  —  "I  was  ap- 
pointed at  the  last  Synod  of  the  Associate  Re- 
formed Church,  a  part  of  a  committee  of  three,  to 
correspond  privately  with  some  of  the  ministers  of 
the  Reformed  —  [Presbyterian]  —  Church,  on  the 
subject  of  forming  a  union,  or  some  kind  of  public 
correspondence."  He  then  proceeds  to  suggest 
some  of  his  own  view^s  upon  the  subject,  which 
it  is  not  requisite  in  this  place  to  repeat.  Not 
long  after  the  other  two  members  of  the  committee 
referred  to  by  this  gentleman,  addressed  a  similar 
communication  to  another  minister  of  our  Church, 
upon  the  same  subject.  By  both  of  these  mem- 
bers *  of  our  Synod  the  general  proposal  was  fa- 
vorably entertained,  and  separate  answers,  but  of 
like  import,  to  the  respective  letters  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Associate  Reformed  Committee,  were 
given.  In  those  replies,  while  approving  of  the 
general  object,  the  improbability  of  the  success  of 
the  plan  suggested  in  one  of  the  letters,  was  re- 
spectfully but  distinctly  stated. 

*  Both  were  members  of  a  committee  appointed  by  General  Synod  to 
correspond  with  other  departments  of  the  Church. 

14 


210  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

Though  still  a  subject  of  private  consideration, 
yet  as  far  as  public  action  was  concerned,  the  mat- 
ter rested  till  1835.  In  the  General  Synod  of  that 
year,  the  subject  of  ecclesiastical  union,  or  approxi- 
mation to  such  union,  upon  a  larger  scale,  was 
brought  forward,  and  incipient  steps  w^ere  taken  to 
have  a  convention,  by  delegation,  of  the  several  de- 
partments of  the  Church,  which  in  doctrine,  worship, 
and  order  most  nearly  approximated  to  one  another. 
In  pursuance  of  w4iat  was  then  proposed,  in  the 
course  of  the  sessions  of  the  General  Synod  of  1837, 
measures  of  a  more  definite  character  were  adopt- 
ed. By  private  intercourse,  the  disposition  of  sev- 
eral ecclesiastical  bodies  was  understood  to  be  fa- 
vorable to  the  proposal.  Delegates  w^ere  appointed 
to  meet  in  convention  those  of  other  bodies,  should 
the  measure  meet  their  approbation.  To  several 
evangelical  denominations  the  arrangement  was 
submitted,  and  at  once,  by  some  of  them,  was  fa- 
vorably received. 

Following  out  these  previous  steps,  in  October, 
1838,  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh,  three  of  those 
bodies,  by  their  delegates,  met  in  convention.  Those 
thus  represented  were  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Synod,  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  the  West, 
and  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  New  York. 
The  convention  was  organized,  positions  adopted  by 
the  principles  of  which  the  convention  should  be 
regulated,  and  for  consideration  appropriate  sub- 
jects were  stated.     The    arrangements   were  such 


CONVENTIONS.  211 

as  the  occasion  required,  and  well  calculated  to 
guard  against  misapprehensions,  to  prevent  rash 
actings,  and  ill-advised  conclusions. 

At  later  periods,  the  conventions  of  these 
Churches  were  joined  by  delegates  from  the  As- 
sociate Synod,  and  from  the  Dissenting  Presbytery, 
a  body  which  originated  in  1799,  by  a  separation 
from  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod.  The  inter- 
course of  those  delegates,  year  after  year,  was 
courteous,  pleasant,  and  conducted  in  a  spirit  of 
respectful  kindness.  Various  projects  of  accommo- 
dation were  brought  before  them,  as  platforms  of 
union,  but  none  of  them,  as  a  satisfactory  basis, 
met  the  minds  of  any  of  the  Churches  represented 
in  the  conventions.  Hopes  of  a  speedy  union, 
founded  on  courtesy  of  manners,  general  expres- 
sions of  kindness,  and  earnest  desires  of  a  favorable 
result,  rather  than  on  well  understood  and  firmly 
settled  ecclesiastical  principles,  were  frequently  en- 
tertained. In  the  progress  of  discussion,  however, 
it  was  found  that  the  peculiarities  which  had  given 
occasion  to  the  distinct  organizations  of  the  several 
bodies,  were  adhered  to  with  the  pertinacity  of 
former  times.  By  repeated  declarations  made  in 
various  forms.  Reformed  Presbyterians  were  made 
to  understand  that,  without  an  alteration  in  their 
ecclesiastical  standards,  no  union  could  be  effected. 
On  the  subjects  of  civil  government,  of  public  social 
covenanting  of  the  Church  and  of  states,  as  a  divine 
institution,  and  of  a  distinct  and  stated  testimony 


212  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

in  favor  of  truth  and  in  opposition  to  error,  together 
with  some  other  points,  different  views  were  taken 
by  the  delegates  of  the  Churches  in  convention,  and 
deemed  by  them  all  to  be  important  under  the 
aspects  and  in  the  relations  in  which  they  were 
presented. 

To  abandon  in  profession,  or  to  change  any  arti- 
cle of  her  creed,  this  Church  was  not  disposed  ; 
and  while  attaching  no  undue  importance  to  mere 
phraseology,  the  import  of  the  language  of  her 
venerable  confession  being  settled  and  well  under- 
stood, as  it  was  unnecessary,  so  it  was  judged  to  be 
unadvisable,  in  that  language,  to  make  any  change. 
The  faith  of  this  Church  is  historically  connected 
with  that  of  the  Presbyterian  confessors  and  mar- 
tyrs of  the  xvi*^  and  xvii*^  centuries,  and  the  habits 
and  feelino's  of  her  children  are  identified  with  the 

o 

scriptural  principles,  usages,  and  forms  of  expres- 
sion of  the  Reformation. 

No  facts  in  our  history  are  more  indisputable  than 
the  following,  viz.:  That  "the  whole  doctrine"  of 
the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith  and  Cate- 
chisms, as  received  by  the  Reformed  Church  of 
Scotland,  has  been  at  all  times  unhesitatingly  ac- 
knowledged by  us,  and  that  all  secular  authority 
over,  or  in,  the  Church  has  been  repudiated  by  us 
at  great  expense  of  suffering,  is  known  matter 
of  record.  Christ  Jesus,  the  Divine  Mediator,  is 
the  Church's  only  head,  and  the  spiritual,  ecclesias- 
tical officers  of  his  appointment  the  only  legitimate 


SUPREMACY    OF   THE   MEDIATOR.  213 

ministry  of  the  Church.  To  repel  the  insinuation 
of  the  contrary,  or  of  any  inconsistency  between 
our  subordinate  standards  and  our  actual  faith,  a 
"  Declaration  "  of  the  continued  uniformity  of  our 
creed  was  made  by  General  Synod,  in  1843,  and 
ordered  to  be  prefixed  to  the  document  generally 
known  under  the  name  of"  Terms  of  Communion." 
From  this  ground  w^e  were  not  prepared,  or  any 
way  disposed,  as  a  Church,  to  recede. 

At  the  first  intimation  that  no  union  could  be 
efiected  except  at  the  expense  of  the  integrity  of 
our  creed.  General  Synod  was  in  no  haste  to  break 
off  from  the  consultations  of  the  conventions,  but 
waited  to  have  certainty  of  the  amount  of  the 
avowals  made.  Years  passed  by  before  it  was  fully 
understood  by  all,  that  not  a  modified  phraseology 
only,  but  a  change  of  substance  likewise  was  in- 
tended. After  the  ascertainment  of  this,  to  have 
continued  our  delegation  to  the  conventions  longer, 
to  beg  that  we  might,  on  easier  terms,  be  admitted 
to  the  em])race  of  the  proposed  union,  would,  as  to 
ourselves,  have  been  dishonorable  ;  and,  as  regarded 
others,  to  continue  pertinaciously  to  urge  upon  men 
of  sense  and  conscience,  for  our  accommodation,  the 
abandonment  of  their  own  convictions  and  avowals, 
would  have  been  indelicate.  Cherishing  sentiments 
of  good  wdll  and  respect  for  those  with  whom  we 
had  been  in  conference,  but  who  could  not  enter 
into  our  views,  nor  we  into  theirs,  we,  for  the  time, 
retired  from  the  pursuit  of  the  proposed  object  in 


214  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

that  form  of  negotiation.  To  have  acted  other- 
wise, as  matters  stood,  would  have  been  as  humil- 
iating to  ourselves  as  to  others  it  would  have  been 
disgusting.  In  this  case,  a  sense  of  propriety  dic- 
tated the  course  pursued  by  this  Synod. 

Upon  our  part,  this  result  was  in  accordance  with 
the  first  rules,  or  regulating  position,  adopted  by 
the  convention  of  1838,  in  these  words :  "  There 
shall  be  no  abandonment  by  this  convention  of  any 
principle  sanctioned  by  the  word  of  God,  or  recog- 
nized in  the  scriptural  attainments  of  the  Eeforma- 
tion,  whether  in  doctrine,  worship,  or  order."  Of 
what  would  be  such  an  abandonment  each  party, 
for  itself,  was  left  to  decide.  This  Church  was  not 
apprised  of  any  principle  in  her  standards  that  had 
not  the  sanction  of  sacred  Scripture,  and  which 
was  not  recognized  in  the  attainments  of  the  Ref- 
ormation. The  profession,  sometimes  made,  of 
modifying  phraseology  only,  was  not,  in  our  opin- 
ion, well  sustained,  as,  upon  examination,  it  was 
found  that  the  proposed  change  would  impinge 
upon  something  deeper  and  of  more  importance 
than  mere  verbiage.  The  principles  of  our  creed, 
in  all  their  fulness,  are  in  our  profession  intended 
to  be  set  forth  in  unambiguous  language,  and  as  the 
Church  cannot  expunge  any  of  those  principles 
from  her  faith,  so  neither  can  she  willingly  permit 
the  rendering  of  any  of  them  uncertain  by  a  doubt- 
ful form  of  expression.  The  union  of  the  Church 
of  God,  which  all  good  men  so  confidently  expect, 


UNALTERED    CONFESSION.  215* 

can  neither  be  sustained  by  a  sandy  foundation,  nor 
be  cemented  by  untempered  mortar. 

Our  delegates  to  the  convention  of  September, 
1846,  were  instructed  by  the  Synod  to  make  it 
known  —  "That  no  alteration  in  our  Confession  of 
Faith,  setting  aside  or  changing  any  pindple  of  that 
Document,  shall  be  admitted."  And  accordingly 
those  delegates,  in  convention,  dissented  from  the 
proposal  of  any  such  change,  and  to  vote  on  the 
question  of  an  alteration. 

That  convention,  by  a  majority,  adopted  the  fol- 
lowing proposition,  to  be  laid  before  the  several 
Synods,  for  their  approval,  as  a  basis  of  union  :  "  To 
alter  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  by  adopt- 
ing the  alterations  already  made  in  the  constitution 
of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church."  This  proposal 
of  a  majority  of  the  convention  was  submitted  to 
the  General  Synod  of  1847;  and,  after  a  very  full 
discussion  of  the  subject,  was  rejected.  This  pro- 
posal was  simply  that  of  going  into,  and  becoming 
one  with,  the  Associate  Reformed  Church.  To  make 
this  proposition  the  right  of  the  brethren  of  that 
body  is  not  denied,  nor  will  the  right  of  others  to 
refuse  it  be  doubted.  For  this  result  the  other 
Churches  were  no  way  prepared,  and  towards  it  by 
no  means  disposed.  While  expressing  an  earnest 
desire  for  the  organical  union  of  the  whole  Church 
of  God,  upon  the  foundation  of  the  prophets  and 
apostles,  and  cherishing  the  cordial  hope  of  its  ulti- 
mate attainment,  seeing  all  prospect  of  its  being 


216  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

promoted,  under  existing  circumstances,  by  their 
taking  any  active  part  in  these  conventional  meet- 
ings and  discussions,  as  out  of  the  question,  our 
Synod  declined  to  appoint  delegates  to  the  next 
convention. 

Upon  our  active  ecclesiastical  progress,  in  some 
localities,  the  influence  of  the  movements  of  those 
conventions  was  not  propitious.  Few  of  the  min- 
isters and  people  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church,  would  have  united  upon  any  of  the  pro- 
jected platforms  or  bases  of  union.  Many  seemed 
in  a  state  of  hesitancy  as  to  the  issue,  and  more 
were  directly  opposed  to  the  proposed  plans.  The 
very  large  accessions  to  sacramental  communion  in 
so  many  of  our  Churches,  immediately  following 
our  withdrawal  from  the  conventions,  speak  on  the 
subject  in  a  language  not  to  be  misunderstood. 
That  measure  gave  assurance  that  there  was  no 
danger  of  a  departure  from  the  principles  of  the 
Church,  and  that  there  was  no  purpose  of  impairing, 
by  mutilation  or  mutation,  the  vigor  of  her  venera- 
ble creed.  Directly  following  a  previous  state  of 
paralysis  there  was,  if  not  a  resurrection  from  the 
dead,  at  least  an  awakening  from  a  sickly  slumber. 

But  why  not  adopt,  as  a  basis  of  union,  the  altered 
Confession  of  Faith,  as  found  in  "  the  constitution 
of  the  Associate  Pveformed  Church,"  and  thus  di- 
minish the  number  of  parties  in  the  Christian 
commonwealth,  by  becoming  o^e  with  that  people 
who  furnish  —  as    is  said  —  a  fine    example  of  a 


LARGE   ACCESSIONS.  217 

"  Union  Church  "  ?  That  either  misapprehensions 
or  ungenerous  imputations  may  be  prevented,  'it 
may  be  worth  while  for  a  moment  to  attend  to  this 
inquiry.  To  Reformed  Presbyterians  the  subject 
was  not  novel ;  to  them  the  constitution  of  the 
Associate  Reformed  body  had  not  been  unknown, 
and  to  the  alleged  "fine  example"  of  ecclesiastical 
unity  which  it  afforded,  they  were  not  strangers. 
They  had  seen  its  rise,  and  to  its  progress  they 
were  not  inattentive.  The  origin  of  this  new 
Church, —  almost  the  youngest  in  the  Presbyterian 
family — has  already  been  noticed.*  Of  its  organ- 
ization Reformed  Presbyterians  never  approved. 
However  well-intended  by  its  projectors,  it  was 
never  confided  in  as  likely  to  effect  its  proposed 
end.  Instead  of  healing  breaches  it  only  increased 
the  evil  of  schism,  and  to  the  number  of  parties,  al- 
ready more  than  sufficient,  it  added  another,  which^ 
by  division,  soon  multiplied  into  more.  Coming 
from  different  bodies,  the  fathers  of  this  community, 
worthy  and  some  of  them  distinguished  men,  were 
obliged  to  deal  in  compromises  of  doubtful  charac- 
ter. To  Reformed  Presbyterians  we  have  seen  that 
several  important  concessions  w^ere  made ;  and  had 
the  practical*  interpretation  of  their  early  constitution 
been  to  the  amount  of  what  its  language  would 
have  authorized,  in  favor  of  Reformation  principles, 
it  may  be  questioned  whether  the  friends  of  those 
principles  would,  for  any  great  length  of  time,  have 

*  Book  ii.  chap.  iii. 


218  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

sought  their  promotion  under  any  other  organiza- 
tion. But  in  the  language  of  the  compromise  there 
was  an  ambiguity,  which  on  different  sides  might 
be  turned  to  different  purposes.  Hence  Reformed 
Presbyterians,  who  continued  upon  their  own 
ground,  kept  aloof  from  this  recent  organization. 
And  under  the  influence  of  disappointed  hopes, 
several  of  the  most  distinguished  of  those  who 
entered  into  the  coalescence  soon  either  left  it,* 
or  ceased  to  give  attendance  at  meetings  of  its 
Superior  Judicatory .f 

The  calls  made  upon  the  body,  by  many  of  its 
own  members,  for  the  redemption  of  constitutional 
pledges,  gave  occasion  to  discussions,  disputes,  and 
unpleasant  feelings.  The  records  of  the  first  seven- 
teen years  of  its  existence  exhibit  no  great  amount 
of  the  spirit  of  a  really  united  Church.  In  1799  a 
rupture  was  effected  by  the  breaking  off  from  that 
body  of  the  first  members  of  the  "  Dissenting  Pres- 
bytery." After  this  time,  discussions  upon  the  sub- 
jects of  public  covenanting,  a  stated  testimony, 
&c.,  no  longer  disturbed  their  peace  ;  but  those  of 
Psalmody,  occasional  or  unecclesiastical  comimmion  with 
strangers,  and  slaveri/,  convulsed  the  community. 
Synod  after  Synod  retired  from  their  connection 
with  the  general  body,  and  in  about  twenty  years 
after  the  first  rupture,  in  1799,  upon  an  attempt 
at  union  with  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres- 

*  As  Messrs.  Henderson  and  Smith, 
t  As  Messrs.  Cuthbertson  and  Logan. 


UNION   IN    TRUTH.  219 

byterian  Church,  the  Associate  Reformed  General 
Synod  had  ceased  to  exist.  The  fragments  of  the 
body  were  now  to  be  sought  and  found  in  four 
separate  communions,  under  as  many  different  or- 
ganizations,— three  of  them  bearing  the  same  name, 
but  refusing  to  be  organically  one.  This  approx- 
imation to  Independency  has,  by  some,  been  looked 
upon  as  a  realization  of  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
anticipations  of  the  tendency  and  results  of  their 
constitution.  And  however  highly  the  ministry  and 
people  of  that  body,  otherwise,  may  be  esteemed, 
the  excellence  of  their  model  of  a  "  Union  Church" 
is  not  so  easy  to  perceive. 

All  the  Churches  of  the  land  have,  or  have  had, 
their  agitations  and  their  schisms,  our  own  among 
the  others.  The  fact  is  humbling,  and  loudly  calls 
upon  each  for  great  searchings  of  heart.  The  per- 
sonal worth  of  individuals  we  can  with  pleasure 
appreciate,  their  talents  and  Christian  character  it 
is  gratifying  to  recognize,  and  in  the  amount  of 
sound  doctrine  and  practical  religion  found  among 
them  we  sincerely  rejoice.  It  is  not  doubted  that, 
in  the  several  departments  of  the  Church,  there 
are  ministers  and  people  w^ho  in  faith  and  good 
works  would  be  ornaments  to  any  portion  of  the 
city  of  our  God,  as  they  actually  are  in  those  sec- 
tions to  which  they  respectively  belong.  These,  in 
the  several  localities  where  they  reside,  are,  in  the 
present  condition  of  things  needed,  and  their  sepa- 
ration from  existing  connections  would  not  be  well. 


220  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

They  form  valuable  links  in  the  social  chain,  and 
by  a  real,  though  somewhat  invisible  bond,  constitute 
a  practical — an  invaluable  —  union  in  the  extended 
household  of  Faith  ;  while,  often  unknown  to  them- 
selves, they  put  forth  a  sacred  influence  in  prepar- 
ing the  way  for  that  ultimate  organic  harmony 
which  will  be  Union  not  in  name  and  form  only, 
but  likewise  in  the  verity  of  truth. 

As  regards  our  ceasing  to  meet  wdth  others  in  the 
conventions  referred  to,  a  word  will  be  sufficient. 
The  allegation  of  inconsistency  in  being  the  first  to 
make  overtures  for  union,  and  in  being  the  first  to 
withdraw  from  the  conferences,  is  not  sustained  by 
the  facts  of  the  case.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
two  years  before  the  subject  was  spoken  of  in  our 
General  Synod,  and  four  years  before  any  definite 
action  was  taken  upon  it,  the  proposal  of  taking 
some  step  towards  a  union  between  them  and  us 
was  made  by  the  Associate  Reformed  brethren  of 
the  West.  Our  action  was  no  more  than  a  respect- 
ful reciprocation  of  theirs.  In  the  proposal,  with 
w^homsoever  it  originated,  there  was  nothing  to 
reproach ;  and  when  found  unattainable  by  fair 
and  honorable  means,  to  retire  from  its  pursuit  was 
not  disreputable.  In  such  withdrawal  there  was  no 
inconsistency  with  previous  action. 

Existing  circumstances  at  the  time,  besides  the 
nature  of  the  case  itself,  will  account  for  the  readi- 
ness with  which  this  Church  went  into  the  proposed 
measure  :    one   of  these    circumstances  w^as  found 


CHRISTIAN   COURTESY.  221 

in  the  recovering  state  of  the  Associate  Reformed 
Church.  A  floating,  but  confidently  expressed,  re- 
port had  gone  abroad,  that  the  Western  Synod  of 
that  body  were  about  to  return  to  the  principles 
of  their  original  constitution,  which  in  several  points 
approximated  to  ours,  but  which  had  been  by  them 
laid  aside ;  and  the  statements  made  of  their  refus- 
ing ecclesiastical  communion  to  their  former  con- 
nections of  the  East  and  of  the  South,  along  with 
the  letters  of  their  committee  already  mentioned, 
had,  in  the  minds  of  some  among  us,  awakened 
the  hope  that  the  morning  of  a  brighter  day  had 
dawned.  It,  too,  should  not  be  forgotten  that,  in 
their  personal  intercourse,  the  ministers  and  people 
of  those  several  Churches  cherished,  as  they  still 
do,  for  each  other  a  sincere  and  Christian  regard, 
and  treated  one  another  with  more  than  the  mere 
courtesy  of  civility.  As  different  objects  of  thought, 
they  could  distinguish  social  organization  from  per- 
sonal or  individual  character.  They  felt  that  they 
were  children  of  the  same  family,  to  some  extent 
unhappily  broken  up,  but  still  the  features  of  family 
kindred  were  recognized,  and  the  spirit  of  flimily 
kindness  was  extensively  in  operation.  It  was 
under  these  circumsta»ces,  in  the  reciprocity  of 
good  will,  that  the  proposition  of  conference  in  the 
form  of  convention  was  made  and  accepted.  Where 
the  facts  of  the  case  are  fully  known,  the  course  of 
our  General  Synod,  and  their  final  action  in  the 
matter,  will    be    found  to   be  fair,  consistent,  and 


222  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

honorable.  From  the  beginning,  as  to  the  im- 
mediate success  of  the  project,  the  expectations 
of  all  were  not  equally  sanguine,  and,  of  course,  to 
some  the  disappointment  in  the  issue  was  less  than 
it  was  to  others.  The  organical  unity  of  the  whole 
Church  is  an  event  most  desirable,  and  one  that 
shall  be  realized  ;  but  the  actual  condition  of  things 
in  her  several  sections,  and  the  state  of  mind 
amono;  a  lar^-e  number  of  her  children,  unite  with 
the  decree  of  God  in  assuring  us,  that  "  the  time  is 
not  yet."  Still  that  very  condition  of  things,  that 
state  of  mind,  and  that  decree  of  God,  revealed  in 
his  word  of  promise,  at  the  same  time,  under 
another  aspect,  leave  no  place  for  doubt  as  to  its 
full  attainment  in  its  appointed  season,  and  for  it 
the  Church  is  obliged  to  be  actively  engaged  in  the 
preparing  of  the  way. 

In  1848,  General  Synod,  after  a  slight  revision, 
adopted  her  Book  of  Discipline,  which  had  been 
substantially  prepared  twenty-five  years  before,  but 
not  formally  enjoined  to  be  observed  ;  and  in  1850, 
Directories  for  the  worship  of  God,  secret,  private, 
and  public,  prepared  at  the  same  time  with  the 
Book  of  Discipline,  w^ere  likewise  adopted  by  Synod, 
together  with  Rules  of  judicative  proceedings,  and 
Forms  of  order )  and  directed  to  be  published  and 
observed.  Now,  in  1852,  she  publishes  her  history 
continued,  and  shows  to  the  world  that  she  still 
stands  on  her  ancient  platform. 

Joys  and  sorrows  are  characteristic  conditions  of 


THE    FATHERS.  223 

human  life.  While  our  history  presents  causes  of 
gladness,  it  likewise  recalls  its  events  of  mourning. 
The  fathers,  where  are  they  ?  And  the  prophets, 
do  they  live  forever?  On  February  17,  1833, 
the  Rev.  Alexander  McLeod,  D.  D.,  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  departed  this  life,  in  peace  with  God, 
and  with  all  the  friends  of  God.  With  great  ability, 
fidelit}^  and  labor,  he  served  his  generation  by  the 
will  of  God  ;  and  when  the  work  assigned  him  to 
do  by  the  Church's  head  was  done,  he  was  taken 
from  the  evils  of  an  evil  world,  and  from  the  im- 
perfections of  an  imperfect  Church,  to  a  higher 
state  of  being  and  of  enjoyment.  His  record  will 
be  found  in  the  Church  of  God,  militant  and  tri- 
umphant—  the  Church  w^iich  he  ardently  loved, 
and  in  the  valuable  productions  of  his  pen  —  works 
on  which  he  impressed  the  seal  of  his  pow^erful, 
cultivated,  discriminating,  and  pious  mind. 

At  a  later  day,  the  Church  was  again  called  upon, 
while  feeling  her  loss,  to  weep  over  the  decease  of 
another  of  her  revered  and  aged  ministers.  On 
October  23,  1849,  the  Rev.  John  Black,  D.  D.,  was 
called  from  his  labors  in  the  Church  on  earth,  to 
the  services  and  felicities  of  the  General  Assembly 
and  Church  of  the  first-born  in  heaven.  Dr.  Black 
had  been  in  the  public  service  of  the  Church  for 
more  than  fifty  years,  having  entered  upon  that 
service  in  company,  and  on  the  same  day,  with  the 
late  Dr.  McLeod,  whose  decease  has  just  been 
noticed.     Those  distinguished  men  were  remarkably 


224  HISTORICAL    VIEW. 

united  in  a  mutual  affection,  in  harmony  of  counsel, 
and  in  active  co-operation  in  the  promotion  of  the 
same  sacred  cause.  The  services  of  Dr.  Black,  as 
they  were  long  continued,  so  they  were  able  and 
faithful.  His  loss  by  the  senior  ministers,  the  asso- 
ciates of  his  early  as  well  as  later  days,  was  tenderly 
felt,  and  to  it  none  of  his  younger  brethren  were 
insensible. 

We  have  glanced  at  a  few  of  the  occurrences  of 
the  last  forty-six  years,  which  more  directly  related 
to  the  movements  of  this  department  of  the  Church. 
Abroad  those  years  have  been  marked  by  great 
events,  —  events,  the  effects  of  causes  which  had 
their  origin  in  previous  ages,  and  which,  in  turn, 
are  themselves  destined  to  be  the  precursors  of 
results  of  inefiiible  import.  By  those  that  are  past, 
we  have  not  been  unaffected.  We  have  had  our 
agitations,  our  trials,  and  our  reverses  ;  but  through 
the  good  hand  of  our  God  upon  us,  in  the  number 
of  our  ministers,  congregations,  and  Presbyteries, 
we  far  exceed  what  we  ever  were,  at  any  former 
period,  in  this  land.  Under  our  General  Synod 
there  are  six  Presbyteries,  one  of  them  in  Asia ; 
and  in  all  of  them  the  prospect  of  rapid  increase  is 
every  way  of  high  promise.  But  —  what  is  more 
—  we  are  in  the  fall  possession  of  our  ancient  faith, 
scriptural  institutes  of  worship,  and  forms  of  order ; 
and,  as  far  as  known,  we  are  in  our  profession  har- 
monious, and  in  activity  diligent,  endeavoring  to 
bear  in  mind  that,  "though  Paul  may  plant,  and 


TRUTH    TRIUMPHANT.  225 

Apollos  water,  it  is  God  only  that  can  give  the 
increase." 

Not  having  seen  any  good  reason  for  abandoning 
any  part  of  the  Reformation  standards,  the  Eeformed 
Presbyterian  portion  of  the  great  Christian  family 
stands  organically  distinct,  but  not  fundamentally 
or  essentially  separated  from  the  rest.  Our  attitude 
is  not  that  of  hostility  to  any  department  of  the 
household  of  faith.  As  far  as  common  ground  is 
occupied  by  all,  and  of  that  ground  the  length  and 
breadth  are  not  limited  by  narrow  bounds,  we  are 
fellow-laborers  with  them,  in  the  same  field  and  for 
the  same  great  results,  which  shall  appear  in  the 
final  adjustments  of  righteousness  and  harmonies 
of  peace  that  will  ble.ss  our  race. 

To  the  events  of  the  period  under  consideration, 
it  behooves  the  Church  not  to  be  inattentive.  The 
great  missionary  movement,  in  its  various  forms 
and  results,  along  with  the  translations  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures,  and  their  extensive  circulation,  are  of 
deep  interest.  The  religious  press,  in  the  hands  of 
individuals,  of  voluntary  associations,  and  of  eccle- 
siastical bodies,  presents  an  aspect  of  both  good  and 
evil  to  the  interests  of  true  religion  and  sound 
morality,  demanding  the  discriminating  vigilance 
and  activity  of  the  Church.  The  position  of  our 
own  country,  in  extended  territory,  an  active  pop- 
ulation, extended  and  extending  commerce,  frame 
and  spirit  of  government,  and  in  influence  second 
to  no  power  on  earth,  has  a  powerful  claim  upon 
15 


226  HISTORICAL   VIEW. 

Zion's  regard.  The  opening  of  a  great  and  effectual 
door  to  enter  upon  the  dark  continent  of  Africa  for 
its  salvation,  through  the  Eepublic  of  Liberia,  a 
really  great  moral  wonder  of  the  age,  loudly  ad- 
dresses the  friends  of  God  and  humanity.  The 
progress  of  science  and  of  the  arts,  the  opening  up 
of  the  channels  of  intercourse,  in  so  many  forms, 
among  the  nations,  all  speak  to  the  Church  in  a 
language  which  ought  to  be  heard  and  understood. 
''  Thy  Kingdom  come." 


Date  Due 

0    12 

42 

^ 

